The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed four news cases and one presumptive case in Colorado among farmworkers at a commercial egg layer operation.
These new infections in Colorado have brought the national number of bird flu cases up to eight since March.
Eric Deeble, deputy undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), said in a briefing Tuesday that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Agriculture was instituting “enhanced PPE protocols” with the input of his agency.
CDC Principal Deputy Director Nirav Shah noted that factors like heat and the industrial fans used in barns are making PPE use among farmworkers “not optimal” at an impacted poultry facility in Weld County, Colo., where depopulation efforts are ongoing.
“The workers were finding it hard to maintain a good seal or a good fit, either between the mask or with eye protection,” said Shah.
“That’s a tradeoff that always exists with PPE, balancing the need to maintain safety,” he added. “In this case, safety from the virus as well as safety from the extreme heat in the conditions they were in.”
Julie Gauthier, executive director for field operations at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said, “The team out there is trying to find other solutions to improve their ability to keep their PPE on their faces.”
Roughly 160 people at the Colorado farm are working on poultry culling efforts, which are expected to continue for the next 10 to 14 days.
