CDC Calls For More Bird Flu Testing Among Farmworkers After Study Reveals Dairy Workers With Signs Of Asymptomatic Infection

The AP (11/7, Aleccia) reports, “Federal health officials on Thursday called for more testing of employees on farms with bird flu after a new study showed that some dairy workers had signs of infection, even when they didn’t report feeling sick.” Farmworkers who are “in close contact with infected animals should be tested and offered treatment even if they show no symptoms, said Dr. Nirav Shah, principal director of the” CDC. The new federal “guidance comes after blood tests for 115 farmworkers in Michigan and Colorado showed that eight workers – or 7% – had antibodies that indicated previous infection with the virus known as Type A H5N1 influenza.” The study’s findings were published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Reuters (11/7, Beasley, Douglas) reports “the change to the” CDC’s “testing recommendation comes as the U.S. Department of Agriculture is also expanding its testing of milk for bird flu, signaling concern by both agencies about the ongoing spread of the virus on dairy and poultry farms.” Still, “the CDC is not seeing mutations in the virus that would lead to easier transmission or evidence of person-to-person spread, agency officials said on a press call.” NBC News (11/7, Edwards, Fattah) reports, “Most of those found with H5N1 said they’d had red, itchy eyes with drainage.” However, “four of the eight” workers “who were infected didn’t recall ever being sick.”