The U.S. government is taking preventive measures to stop the spread of bird flu among farmworkers. With outbreaks on dairy and poultry farms, 13 workers have already been infected with mild cases believed to have come from animals.
Health officials fear the possibility of coinfections if individuals catch both bird flu and seasonal flu simultaneously. To combat this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will invest $5 million in providing seasonal flu shots to livestock workers this fall to reduce the risk of gene reassortment between the viruses. Another $5 million will be used to promote the shots.
Although seasonal flu shots do not protect against bird flu, they could limit coinfections. While discussions about offering antiviral medication like Tamiflu are ongoing, the government is already working on limited bird flu vaccine production. However, this is not currently recommended for farmworkers due to the lack of person-to-person spread.
With the bird flu virus spreading among various mammals worldwide, the U.S. is taking proactive steps to safeguard the health of livestock workers against potential pandemic risks.
Contributed by AP health writer JoNel Aleccia.