SCVNews.com | CDPH reports 13 confirmed human cases of avian influenza

The California Department of Public Health reports that a total of 13 human cases of bird flu have been confirmed in California. All 13 cases are individuals from the Central Valley who had direct contact with infected dairy cows and were confirmed after additional testing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Starting next week, CDPH will report new confirmed cases on its bird flu website. The website is updated three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Given the extent of exposure of people with avian flu infections to infected cows, evidence continues to suggest that the virus spreads only from animal to person in California. Additionally, based on the CDC’s genomic sequencing of three cases of California bird flu, there is no evidence that the virus increases the ability to infect or spread between people, nor is there any known reduced susceptibility to antiviral drugs.

All individuals experienced mild symptoms, including eye redness or discharge (conjunctivitis), and were treated according to CDC guidelines. None of the people were hospitalized.

While the risk to the general public remains low, additional sporadic human cases of avian influenza are expected to be identified and confirmed in California in individuals who have regular contact with infected dairy cows. CDPH continues to work closely with local health authorities to identify, track, test, confirm and treat possible and confirmed human cases of avian influenza.

Additional information about bird flu

Risk remains low: The risk to the general public remains low, but people who interact with infected animals, such as workers on dairy or poultry farms, are at higher risk of contracting bird flu. CDPH recommends that anyone working with animals or materials infected or potentially infected with the avian influenza virus wear personal protective equipment or PPE such as eye protection (face shield or goggles), respirators (N95 masks), and gloves. Wearing PPE helps prevent infections. For complete PPE guidance, see the CDPH document Protecting Workers from Avian Influenza (PDF).

Consuming pasteurized milk and dairy products remains safe because pasteurization is completely effective in inactivating the avian influenza virus. As an additional precaution and in accordance with long-standing state and federal requirements, milk from sick cows is not permitted in the public milk supply.

What CDPH does: CDPH has helped coordinate and support the education of dairy producers and farm workers on preventive measures that have helped keep the number of people in other states experiencing bird flu outbreaks low. CDPH continues to support local health departments in distributing PPE from state and federal stockpiles directly to affected dairy farms, farmworker organizations, poultry farm workers, those handling raw dairy products, and slaughterhouse workers. To protect California farmworkers from bird flu, CDPH has distributed more than 400,000 respirators, 1.4 million gloves, 170,000 goggles and face shields, and 168,000 wool hats over the past four months.

Additionally, CDPH works closely with local health laboratories and local health departments to conduct health checks for exposed individuals and ensure testing and treatment is available when needed. As one of 14 states with infected dairy herds, California also received 5,000 additional doses of seasonal flu vaccine for farmworkers from the CDC. These doses will go to local health departments with the highest number of dairy farms.

CDPH has been tracking bird flu and preparing for possible human infection since the state first detected poultry in 2022. CDPH works closely with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to develop a comprehensive approach to protecting human and animal health. CDPH and the CDC use both human and wastewater surveillance tools to detect and monitor avian influenza and work closely with local health authorities to prepare for, prevent, and reduce its impact on human health.

What Californians can do: People who have been exposed to infected animals should watch for the following symptoms for 10 days after their last contact: eye redness (conjunctivitis), cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, diarrhea, vomiting, muscle or body aches, headache , fatigue, difficulty breathing and fever. If they feel sick, they should isolate immediately, notify the local health department, and work with public health and health care providers to receive timely testing and treatment.

CDPH recommends that all Californians – especially workers at risk of exposure to bird flu – receive a seasonal flu vaccine. Although the seasonal flu vaccine does not protect against bird flu, it can reduce the risk of infection with both viruses at the same time and reduce the risk of severe illness from seasonal flu.

For current information on the national avian influenza response, see the CDC Avian Influenza Response Update.

Related