Post by RonOPost by RonOPost by RonOhttps://doh.wa.gov/newsroom/first-presumed-human-infections-avian-
influenza-under-investigation-washington-state
Washington has not admitted to having infected dairy herds, but
Poultry flocks started to go down with H5N1, and in all the other
states the poultry flocks have gotten infected from infected dairy herds.
Four of the poultry workers are being tested because they started to
exhibit symptoms after working with the infected birds.
Ron Okimoto
https://www.nbc26.com/health/bird-flu/4-farm-workers-become-the-first-
to-test-positive-for-bird-flu-in-washington-state
This update indicates that 4 poultry workers exhibited symptoms and
tested positive for H5N1. Samples were sent to the CDC for
verification. This article also claims that other workers are also
being tested so the number of infected is likely to change. Officials
are trying to contact other employees and contractors that worked at
the farm so that they can be tested.
Contact tracing should be done so that Washington can identify the
dairy herd that likely infected the poultry farm due to shared workers.
Ron Okimoto
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/10/24/cdc-confirms-two-people-
in-washington-infected-with-bird-flu/
The CDC has confirmed 2 of the 4 human cases submitted for verification
with the other two still pending. The total number of human cases
submitted for verification from Washington has grown to 7.
The CDC is participating in testing more than 100 people in Washington
(equal to more than 1/3 of the total testing that the CDC has
acknowledged to date). So it looks like the CDC is finally going to try
to test enough people to determine what the infection rate might be.
They should also start testing the dairies because the poultry farms
have always gotten the virus from infected dairy herds in all the other
states.
There are likely a lot of infected dairy workers in Washington that just
are not being tested.
Ron Okimoto
The CDC has increased the confirmed cases in Washington to 5 poultry
workers today, but I can't find any comment on the case verifications.
https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/state/washington/article294480529.html
This news article claims that there are now 8 individuals sent to the
CDC for verification, and they do not seem to know that the CDC is
classifying the infections as the dairy virus. The article indicates
that they think that the poultry farms were infected by migratory fowl,
but the closest state with the dairy infection is Idaho and California,
and the migration is going south not north east.
More poultry flocks have gone down with the virus and the Washington
health officials do not seem to know that poultry farms are usually
infected by nearby infected dairy herds. They should be contact tracing
workers that worked at the farms when it got infected and trace them
back to the infected dairies. Both Texas and Michigan found out that
some dairy workers also worked at poultry farms because most dairies do
not maintain full time staff. At the very least they should be bulk
milk tank testing the dairies in the affected counties (three counties
are claimed to have infected poultry).
The CDC needs to get the sequence information out to people that can
start tracing how the infection is spreading.
Ron Okimoto