By John Daley
An H5 bird flu outbreak that has struck Colorado’s agricultural sector for several months requires ongoing vigilance, the top Biden administration health official said in Denver Thursday.
“I'd say to anyone, be aware, be prepared, and seek out the best advice and make sure your leaders are doing everything they can,” said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra Thursday in an interview with CPR.
Becerra visited Denver to take part in a keynote conversation for the Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy, and Research Organization (CLLARO)’s 2024 Latino Policy Summit.
He stopped short of saying Colorado has turned a corner on the situation, while spotlighting progress and concerns, in an interview after a Q and A session.
As of the end of last month, 10 Colorado agricultural workers had tested positive for H5 bird flu, nine in poultry workers and one in an employee at a dairy farm. The workers exhibited only mild symptoms, like pink eye (conjunctivitis), and common respiratory infection symptoms; none were hospitalized. On a state website tracking avian flu in humans in Colorado, the number of positive cases remained at 10 on Thursday with approximately 135 people tested.
“We know that the infections that have occurred with humans have been more conjunctivitis. They haven't been the more concerning type of respiratory infections. That's a good thing,” Becerra said.
The virus keeps showing up in milk distributed nationwide, but pasteurization neutralizes it by heating it to a high enough temperature to kill germs that cause disease.
“The virus is dead because it's been pasteurized and we know that we're gaining more cooperation from dairies as we speak throughout the country,” said Becerra. “So those are all good things.”
But he warned of the risks of not bringing the spread of the virus under control.
“I think all of us would like to see us move faster, having more cooperation and more action taken,” he said, noting the avian flu has now spread among birds, poultry and cattle. And experts have warned about it spreading to another key mammal: pigs.
“If it starts to go to other animals, especially, for example, pigs, we know we're getting closer to the day where it jumps over and really starts to do respiratory infection of humans, and that's when we would all be in trouble,” Becerra said.
Pigs are “genetically a little bit closer to humans,” said Dr. Thomas Jaenisch, an infectious disease epidemiologist and clinical scientist.
Both animal and human flu viruses can infect pigs, according to Yale Medicine, and scientists worry a mixing of strains might fuel a future pandemic.
“What we want to do is prevent the might from ever happening,” he said. “And the only way we do that is to do more surveillance, to do more testing, to do more protecting, using PPE (personal protective equipment), the things that we know that can protect workers.”
The state’s health and agriculture departments have been working with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the agencies Becerra oversees, with CDC staff coming to Colorado recently to help with the response.
That has included tracking the virus in wastewater, via flu testing and hospitalization data and through testing and monitoring of workers and their families.
Becerra expressed the importance of getting the word out about the proper use of PPE for farms and dairy workers.
“We know that protections are available. We hope that states and the dairy farms use those products that are available: a mask, gloves, the protective gear that we know helps a worker stay safe if they have to work around cows that may be infected,” he said, noting his agency is not sure how many dairies are using that gear.
“We're hoping that the states and dairy farms will help us ensure that we can reach workers.”
More than half the state’s dairy herds, a total of 63 as of Thursday, have tested positive for the virus, also known as HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza), according to a state website. Ten herds were added to the list earlier this week.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) said recently it will now require all licensed farmers to test milk from dairy herds weekly for signs of the virus. Colorado is the first state to do so.
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