Protecting livestock workers from bird flu

By Scout Nelson

Federal health officials are urging farm workers who handle livestock and poultry to get vaccinated for seasonal influenza to help prevent a bird flu mutation that could lead to a human pandemic.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced it would allocate up to $5 million for these vaccinations, relying on states to implement the initiative.

There have been 14 known human infections of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the U.S. due to contact with infected dairy cattle and poultry, with all but one occurring in the past four months. The virus has circulated among wild birds for over two years and has sporadically transmitted to domestic birds.

A variation of the virus has been infecting U.S. dairy cattle since December, leading to illnesses in four people who worked closely with the infected cattle. Recently, nine people in Colorado tasked with culling infected poultry contracted the virus.

Although the CDC maintains that the risk to humans is low, those infected so far have experienced minor symptoms like respiratory illness or pinkeye.

The virus has not been shown to transmit between people, but there is potential for it to gain that ability if it infects someone with a seasonal flu virus. “Such dual infections, while rare, could potentially result in an exchange of genetic material between two different influenza viruses,” said Nirav Shah, principal deputy director for the CDC.

The CDC plans to spend $10 million on farm workers’ health related to avian flu. Half will go towards educating and training workers on how to avoid infection, while the other half will fund seasonal flu vaccines for an estimated 200,000 livestock and poultry workers.

The CDC aims to vaccinate all of them, though it acknowledges that less than half of the general population typically gets a flu shot.

State health officials are expected to implement the voluntary vaccination effort, starting with the 13 states that have confirmed infections among cows, including Iowa, where 13 dairy herds have been infected. No new infections have been reported in Iowa in the past month.

The vaccine will not protect workers from contracting bird flu nor guarantee immunity from seasonal flu, but it is a crucial component of the public health response to the virus’ threat. “The risk here is a theoretical but important risk,” Shah said.

Colorado has seen the most recent infections, with two-thirds of the nation’s 32 newly infected herds reported there in the past 30 days.

This is partly due to Colorado’s robust testing protocols and the close proximity of dairy farms in the state, which facilitates the movement of equipment and personnel between farms.

The virus has been identified in 172 dairy herds in the U.S. this year, with 50 in Colorado. In Texas, where the infections originated, the virus was confirmed in 22 herds, though many went untested as they recovered before bird flu was identified as the cause.

The CDC’s vaccination campaign is a proactive measure to prevent a potential public health crisis by mitigating the risk of bird flu mutating and spreading among humans.

Photo Credit: gettyimages-ahavelaar