3 new cases of possible bird flu reported in Colorado

State health officials in Colorado have identified three new possible cases of bird flu among poultry workers.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said in a release Friday that it had identified three presumptive positive cases of avian influenza in workers who were responding to an outbreak of the virus at a commercial egg operation.

The state agencies notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and sent the specimen to confirm that it is in fact bird flu.

“The workers were culling poultry at a farm in northeast Colorado and exhibited mind symptoms,” the release said.

Symptoms included conjunctivitis — commonly known as pink eye — and common respiratory infection symptoms. None of the individuals were hospitalized, the state said.

“State epidemiologists suspect the poultry workers’ cases are a result of working directly with infected poultry,” the release said.

The CDC is sending a team to Colorado to support an investigation, the federal agency said.

“As we learn more, we will continue to assess the situation and provide updates,” the CDC said. “These preliminary results again underscore the risk of exposure to affected animals.”

Both agencies list the risk for the general public as low.

The CDC said earlier this month that the fourth human case of bird flu was reported.

If the federal agency tests the Colorado cases and they come back confirmed for the H5N1 virus, it will bump up the number of those infected to seven.

The concern began after more than 40 cattle herds nationwide have confirmed cases of the virus.

There is concern for a potential widespread outbreak. A former CDC director predicts that one day there will be a bird flu pandemic, once the virus learns how to transfer human to human. The mortality rate for bird flu is much higher than COVID-19.