By Leah Douglas
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday confirmed two of the four presumptive positive bird flu cases among poultry farm workers in Washington state.
The agency also ruled out bird flu infections among healthcare workers who tended to a person who contracted the virus in Missouri, officials said in a press call.
All of the 29 confirmed U.S. human cases of bird flu but the one in Missouri have been among farm workers who had contact with infected poultry or dairy cows. Officials have said the risk to the general public from bird flu remains low.
Serological testing of healthcare workers who came in contact with the sick individual in Missouri showed they were not infected with bird flu, a CDC official said on the call.
The CDC has deployed teams to California, Michigan, Colorado, and Washington to assist with its bird flu response, said Principal Deputy Director Nirav Shah on the call.
