The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has established a databae to track cases of H5N1v in workers involved in depopulation of two egg-production complexes in Weld County. To date nine cases have been confirmed but a noteworthy proportion of those involved showed symptoms including conjunctivitis and respiratory involvement. The prevalence rate among the workers will be determined subsequently through serology.
By July 30th Colorado diagnosed 47 herds as infected with mammalian adapted H5N1 genotype B3.13. The two most recent outbreaks in poultry involved 3 million hens in July. Effective July 22nd, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Agriculture initiated a mandatory surveillance of dairy herds for the presence of virus in milk samples.
Dr. Maggie Baldwin, State Veterinarian for Colorado, stated, “We have been navigating this challenging novel outbreak of HPAI in dairy operations for nearly three months in Colorado and have been unable to curb the spread of the disease to this point.” She added, “We have seen devastating impacts of this disease not only on our dairy industry but also on our poultry industry.