US CDC sends field team to aid Colorado’s bird flu response

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has deployed a nine-member field team to Colorado to help the state manage a bird flu outbreak in humans and poultry.

Colorado confirmed four infections and a suspected fifth case on Sunday.

The CDC, in a statement dated July 14, said its team of epidemiologists, veterinarians, clinicians and an industrial hygienist was working to support Colorado’s assessment of the outbreak and the human cases.

Based on current information, it said it believes the risk to the public to be low.

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The CDC said it had not seen any unexpected increases in flu activity otherwise in Colorado, or other states with bird flu outbreaks in cows and poultry.

Workers were culling chickens at a commercial egg facility with a bird flu outbreak in northeast Colorado, the state said, without naming the facility.

Colorado reported an outbreak of avian flu at a 1.8 million-bird egg farm in Weld County on July 8, according to the state’s agriculture department. Workers at the farm presented mild symptoms, from conjunctivitis to respiratory signs, according to the state health department.

These are the first reported cases in poultry workers in the United States since 2022.

The CDC said genetic sequencing of the virus was underway and it would look for any mutations that could impact its risk assessment.

—Reporting for Reuters by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru