Colorado continues working with avian flu as an emergency

Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado, has extended to Sept. 1 the bird flu emergency in his state.  

The governor is responding to the avian flu outbreak in Colorado’s Weld County. Weld County is often listed as a Top 10 county for agricultural production and is usually the only high-value county located outside of California.

The World Health Organization considers bird flu a threat to public health because it can potentially cause another pandemic.

Polis first took executive action a month ago, activating the State Emergency Operations Plan and directing the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to take all necessary and appropriate state actions to assist with response, recovery, and mitigation efforts. Specifically, he unlocked the resources necessary to help affected poultry facilities respond to and contain avian flu outbreaks. 

In the new Executive Order, Polis memorialized the July verbal declaration and extended the disaster declaration by an additional 30 days through Sept. 1 because of the ongoing need to identify avian flu cases and the potential for further response to affected facilities.

Since March, the avian flu virus has been spreading from farm to farm instead of from wild birds. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 178 dairy herds in 13 states, in addition to commercial poultry flocks, have become infected with the virus.

Since March 2022, the Colorado Department of Agriculture has led the state response to the outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).

UISDA’s  National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) first confirmed the detection of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in Weld County dairy cows on April 25, 2024. 

Symptoms in dairy cows include low appetite, decreased milk production, and abnormal colostrum-like milk.

HPAI continues to threaten Colorado’s domestic birds. Bird owners are told to maintain biosecurity measures, keep flocks away from wild birds, and avoid touching dead wild birds. Over 100 million commercial birds have been lost to Avian flu since 2022.

According to Gov. Polis, Colorado has had the highest reported cases, with at least 50 detections.

Colorado has confirmed that 10 farm workers have come down with avian flu.

The CDC lists 14 cases of human avian flu. The 10 Weld County cases were from two separate egg-laying operations.

So far, human cases have been contained in small areas without exposure to larger populations. Bird flu and influenza symptoms are very similar, which might challenge diagnosis skills.

The CDC has invested at least $10 million in protective gear to protect workers from the virus. In addition to education and outreach for farmworkers’ health and safety, seasonal avian flu vaccines for workers and animals are also being deployed.

(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)