U.S. Bird Flu Cases Reach 33 as CDC Confirms Infections in Washington and California

Oct 24, 2024, 01:46 PM

U.S. health officials have confirmed an increase in human cases of H5N1 bird flu infections among farm workers in Washington State and California, raising the total number of human cases in the U.S. this year to at least 33. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed four new cases in Washington State and has deployed a team to assess the health of farm workers involved in culling infected poultry. In California, the number of confirmed human cases has risen to 15, with reports indicating that large numbers of dairy cows are dying from the virus, making the state the new epicenter of the outbreak. Quest Diagnostics announced plans to introduce an H5 molecular test by the end of the month, which is expected to increase testing capacity. The outbreak has affected 340 herds across 14 states. While the risk of the virus mutating to spread easily between humans remains low, officials are monitoring the situation closely, with no evidence of human-to-human transmission reported so far.