US Officials Confirm Two New Avian Flu Cases As Study Suggests Virus Is Not Causing Asymptomatic Infections

The AP (7/19, Stobbe) reported, “U.S. health officials on Friday announced two more bird flu cases among farmworkers, but they also said a new study in Michigan suggested the virus is not causing silent infections in people.” In June, “the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services launched a study of workers who were around cows sickened by the bird flu.” One goal of the study “was to determine if there were people who never had any symptoms but did have evidence of past infections.” Researchers found “none of the blood testing showed antibodies that would indicate such infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday.” The New York Times (7/20, Anthes, Weiland) reported, “In its online update, the C.D.C. noted that the results supported its approach to testing, which has focused on symptomatic people who had been in contact with sick animals.” However, “outside experts were not convinced, noting that much more data was needed.” Reuters (7/19, S K) reported the CDC “confirmed two additional cases of bird flu in Colorado poultry farm workers.” The “new cases were in poultry workers with exposure to infected poultry during depopulation and disposal activities, the CDC said on Friday.”