4. Avian flu infects 2 more California dairy workers; CDC confirms Wisconsin case

Lisa Schnirring December 20, 2024

Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

milking dairy cows

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The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) today reported two more H5 avian flu infections, both in dairy workers, raising the state's total to 36. Also, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed a presumptive case that Wisconsin reported this week in a poultry worker, raising the nation's total to 64 from 9 states since the start of the year ...

Erica Pan, MD, MPH, state epidemiologist, said California health officials have monitored about 5,000 people and tested 130 who had potential symptoms. She also added that officials have followed up on numerous wastewater detections as the state battles ongoing outbreaks in dairy cattle and poultry.

Annette Jones, DVM, state veterinarian, said that, of 679 dairy farms that were under quarantine, 66 have been released. The state has been proactively conducting testing at dairy farms, and recently it extended testing to farms in the southern part of the state where the virus was detected within the past 2 weeks. She said the positive test results in the south triggered proactively testing of dairy cattle on the North Coast, which has fewer farms than the Central Valley ...

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/avian-flu-infects-2-more-california-dairy-workers-cdc-confirms-wisconsin