Dairy workers may have bird flu without feeling sick, CDC reports

November 7, 2024

Cows in a pasture

(NBC News) – The health agency now urges proactive testing and treatment for the virus among any workers who were exposed to H5N1.

Dairy workers who’ve been exposed to bird flu should be tested for the virus even if they don’t have symptoms and be offered Tamiflu to cut their risk of getting sick, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The recommendation coincides with a new report finding asymptomatic bird flu infection in some workers. Those cases were discovered using blood, or serology, testing and seem to have been transmitted from sick animals, not people. (Read More)