Dairy Workers Could Be A Viable Pathway For Avian Flu To Reach The Broader Human Population, Experts Warn

The New York Times (5/9, Mandavilli, Qiu, Anthes) reports, “Even as it has become increasingly clear that the bird flu outbreak on the nation’s dairy farms began months earlier – and is probably much more widespread – than previously thought, federal authorities have emphasized that the virus poses little risk to humans.” However, “there is a group of people who are at high risk for infection: the estimated 100,000 men and women who work on those farms. There has been no widespread testing to see how many may be infected. None have been vaccinated against bird flu.” This “leaves the workers and their families vulnerable to a poorly tracked pathogen. And it poses broader public health risks. If the virus were to find its way into the wider population, experts say, dairy workers would be a likely route.”