4 Suspected Bird Flu Cases Reported in Washington State Farm Workers

The workers—who experienced only mild symptoms—are employed at a farm that was the site of an avian influenza outbreak earlier in October.

In this file photograph, chickens walk in a fenced pasture at a farm in Iowa on Oct. 21, 2015. Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo

Four agricultural workers in Washington state may be infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, the Washington State Department of Health stated on Oct. 20.

The four people tested “presumptively positive” for the disease after working with infected poultry at a commercial egg farm in Franklin County, officials said in a statement.

The four potential infections are the first presumed human cases of the virus under investigation in the state. The infections, if confirmed, would also make Washington the sixth state to report human cases of the virus after instances were reported in California, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, and Texas.

The four cases emerged at a farm that was the site of an avian influenza outbreak in chickens earlier this month, according to the Department of Health.

Roughly 800,000 birds at the same farm were euthanized after test results by the Washington State Department of Agriculture on Oct. 15 showed that they were infected with the virus, officials stated.

According to the statement, the outbreak prompted testing of workers at the farm, with samples tested at the Washington State Public Health Lab and sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where they await final confirmation and analysis of the virus.

All four workers experienced mild symptoms and have been provided with antiviral medication, the department stated. Testing of other people on the farm is currently underway, and the number of cases under investigation may change in the coming days and weeks it noted.

Local health authorities are working with the CDC in response to the outbreak, and workers on the farm have been given personal protective equipment, according to the statement.

Other employees at the farm are also being monitored for symptoms, and testing, vaccines, and treatment are being provided to symptomatic workers.

Avian influenza is a viral disease that is highly contagious among birds, although it has also been discovered in other animals, such as pigs in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam; dogs in Thailand; and domestic cats in Germany, according to the CDC.

The disease spreads easily among birds through nasal and eye secretions and through manure, and it can prove deadly in domestic poultry.

Bird flu symptoms in humans can range from mild to severe and can include conjunctivitis, mild flu-like upper respiratory symptoms, fatigue, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing.

In more extreme cases, infection with the virus can lead to vomiting, seizures, and death.

The CDC considers the current public health risk from bird flu to be low, but the agency stated that it is “watching the situation carefully” and working with states to monitor people with animal exposures.

So far in 2024, there have been 27 human cases of bird flu reported in the United States, according to the CDC. The latest cases, if confirmed, would bring that figure up to 31.