The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in association with state health authorities initiated a serologic survey during mid-September 2024 among 150 large animal veterinarians exposed to cattle herds over the previous three-month period.  Of the 150 practitioners, sampled at a conference, three demonstrated recent exposure.  All were asymptomatic and none had worked with dairy cattle known or suspected to have been infected.  One of the three veterinarians was exposed to a poultry flock known to have been infected with HPAI.  One of  the three food-animal veterinarians practiced in Georgia and South Carolina with neither state having reporting cases of bovine influenza-H5N1, suggesting greater geographic distribution of infection other than the recognized 14 states collectively recording close to 1,000 affected herds during 2024.

There have been 67 confirmed human cases among agricultural workers of which 40 were involved with exposure to dairy herds and the remaining cases were employed to depopulate infected flocks. This suggests the need to deploy available H5 vaccine in the risk populations.

A serologic survey among avian veterinarians, wildlife biologists and personnel having contact with both infected and unaffected flocks would provide valuable epidemiologic information.