For nearly four months, the spread of bird flu in the nation’s dairy cattle has stoked fears that, if left unchecked, the virus could eventually unleash a pandemic.
The recent cluster of human cases connected to poultry farms in Colorado only underscores that the threat remains real.
Genetic sequencing of the virus collected from the sickened poultry workers closely resembles what’s circulating in dairy herds, suggesting that cattle somehow introduced the virus into the poultry flock.
At one massive poultry facility, workers culled the birds under particularly dangerous circumstances.