The Washington State Department of Health (WSDH) yesterday reported its first suspected avian flu infections in people, which involve four agricultural workers who tested positive after working with infected poultry at an egg-laying farm in Franklin County.
Elsewhere, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) on October18 reported 2 more confirmed H5 infections in people who were exposed to sick dairy cattle, raising the state's total to 13.
Washington braces for more possible cases
The workers in Washington were at a facility where about 800,000 birds were culled after testing by the Washington State Department of Agriculture on October 15 showed the poultry were positive for avian flu. Franklin County is in the southeastern part of the state. The results in poultry have been confirmed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
The spurt of infections in poultry workers is reminiscent of what Colorado experienced over the summer, when nine infections were reported in cullers who were part of the response outbreaks on large commercial farms.
The WSDH said the Benton-Franklin Health District conducted health checks of exposed workers and coordinated testing at the Washington State Public Health Lab. Samples have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for final confirmation.
Similar to earlier infections in US poultry and dairy farm workers, the Washington patients had mild symptoms and have been provided with antiviral medication. The WSDH said test results on other farm workers are pending and that case numbers could change.
The Benton-Franklin Health District is asking any employees or contractors who may have worked on a Benton or Franklin county poultry farm since October 7 to contact the health department if they have symptoms such as conjunctivitis or respiratory infection.
Meanwhile, the USDA confirmed a second highly pathogenic avian flu outbreak in Washington poultry, which appears to involve a backyard facility that has 60 birds.
The Washington and California cases, if confirmed, would push the national total this year to 31 human cases, all but 1 linked to contact with infected poultry or cattle.
Large California broiler farm, more dairy farms hit
Amid an uptick in H5N1 detections in dairy cows and poultry, the USDA has confirmed an outbreak at a broiler farm in the same Central Valley area that has been hit hard by outbreaks in dairy cows. The virus was detected at a broiler facility in Tulare County that has 786,600 birds.
Also, the USDA has confirmed the virus in 7 more California dairy herds, raising the state's total to 131 and the national total of confirmed outbreaks to 331 across 14 states.
