The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment — in coordination with the Colorado Department of Agriculture and State Emergency Operations Center — is reporting three confirmed cases of avian flu in humans at a second farm in Weld County.
Public health officials first reported news of the virus at a second farm last Saturday. This update brings Colorado’s total number of confirmed avian flu cases in humans to 10 — nine cases at two poultry farms and one from a dairy farm.
Later Thursday, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment plans to launch a data table to track human cases of avian flu. The table will be updated on the CDPHE website by 4 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday.
The biweekly update will include the number of presumptive positive human cases, the number of confirmed human cases, the approximate number of people tested, and a link to the Colorado Department of Agriculture for the number of impacted dairy and poultry farms.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture provides data on avian flu in poultry and dairy cattle, which is updated weekly or as data is confirmed.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to state that the risk of avian flu to the general public is low. So far, we have not seen evidence of person-to-person transmission. Epidemiologists in Colorado and at the CDC are monitoring for genetic variations in the virus and changes in transmission patterns.
Colorado is the first state to mandate testing of all commercial dairies. Colorado reports 47 cow herds with avian flu infections and 33 commercial poultry flocks, which have led to the loss of 6.3 million birds.
In response to Colorado’s highest number of highly pathogenic avian flu cases, the state called for testing of all dairy herds.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture provides data on avian flu in poultry and dairy cattle, updated weekly or as data is confirmed.
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