Franklin County egg farm workers contract bird flu

Four agricultural workers tested “presumptively positive” for avian influenza, or bird flu, after working with infected poultry at a commercial egg farm in Franklin County, according to the Washington State Department of Health.

They are the first presumed human cases of H5 bird flu under investigation in Washington, the department said in a news release Sunday.

The employees worked at a farm where the flu broke out in chickens. About 800,000 birds were euthanized after test results by the Washington State Department of Agriculture on Tuesday showed they were infected with avian influenza.

The four workers had mild symptoms and were provided with antiviral medication, the state department said. Testing of other individuals on the farm was pending Sunday.

There have been 27 reported human cases, not including the presumptive positive cases in Washington, of H5 bird flu this year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Twenty-three of them were recorded in California and Colorado.

The Benton-Franklin Health District conducted health checks of exposed workers and coordinated testing at the Washington State Public Health Lab, the Department of Health said. The samples were sent to the CDC for final confirmation and analysis of the virus.

The health district and the state Department of Health are working with the state Department of Agriculture and the CDC on the regional response to the outbreak, according to the release. The Department of Health and the health district provided personal protective equipment to farm workers, are monitoring exposed workers for symptoms of avian influenza and are providing testing, vaccines and treatment for symptomatic workers.

Any employees or contractors who may have worked on a poultry farm in Benton or Franklin counties since Oct. 7 should contact the Benton-Franklin Health District at (509) 460-4550 if they have symptoms, like red eyes or respiratory infections.

Washington is the sixth state to identify a human infection of H5N1. H5N1 is a highly pathogenic avian influenza that has caused ongoing multistate outbreaks in poultry, dairy cattle and wildlife.

“Washington has monitored the spread of H5N1 closely since it was first detected in poultry in the state in 2022, and our state is prepared with the knowledge, relationships, and tools to minimize its impacts on our community,” Washington Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah said in the release.

Avian influenza is caused by avian influenza Type A viruses that naturally occur in wild aquatic birds throughout the world, the Department of Health said. H5N1 viruses can also infect other species of birds, and occasionally mammals, and can cause significant mortality in poultry species, such as chickens, turkeys, pheasants, ducks and geese.

On rare occasions, bird flu viruses infect people and make them sick. Most people who get bird flu had prolonged, close contact with animals infected with the virus or environments contaminated with the flu.

The CDC considers the risk to the general public from the H5N1 virus to be low.

The Department of Health says people should avoid handling dead birds or allowing pets near them.

For more information, visit doh.wa.gov/avian-influenza.