Federal health officials have called for expanded bird flu testing among farmworkers following a study revealing signs of infection in asymptomatic dairy workers.
Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told reporters on Nov. 7 that farmworkers who come into close contact with infected animals should be tested and offered treatment even if they are asymptomatic.
“The purpose of these actions is to keep workers safe, to limit the transmission of H5 to humans, and to reduce the possibility of the virus changing,” Shah said.
The new recommendations follow a Nov. 7 study involving 115 farmworkers in Michigan and Colorado, which found that eight of them—or 7 percent—had antibodies indicating previous H5N1 infection. This suggests the virus may have infected more people than the 46 officially recorded U.S. cases as of Thursday, most of which involved exposure to infected dairy cows or poultry….