Amy Maxmen

Visit kff.org to read Amy's bio.

amaxmen@kff.org

Exclusive: Emails Reveal How Health Departments Struggle To Track Human Cases of Bird Flu

Emails show how health officials struggle to track the bird flu, partly in deference to the agricultural industry. As a result, researchers don’t know how often farmworkers are being infected — and could miss alarming signals.

Bird Flu Cases Are Going Undetected, New Study Suggests. It’s a Problem for All of Us.

Dairy workers in Texas show signs of prior, uncounted bird flu infections in a new study. Without labor protection and better health care, cases are bound to quietly rise as the outbreak among livestock blazes in the United States.

Colorado Poultry Workers Battle Bird Flu in Heat Wave as US Struggles to Contain Outbreak

So far, all 10 cases reported nationally this year at dairy and poultry farms have been mild, consisting of respiratory symptoms and eye irritation. Scientists have warned that the virus could mutate to spread from person to person, like the seasonal flu, and spark a pandemic.

Finland Is Offering Farmworkers Bird Flu Shots. Some Experts Say the US Should, Too.

Even with a stockpile of bird flu vaccinations, the federal government is not offering them to those at high risk. Along with testing and measures to prevent spread, vaccinations may protect people and stop the outbreak from becoming a pandemic.

‘We’re Flying Blind’: CDC Has 1M Bird Flu Tests Ready, but Experts See Repeat of Covid Missteps

Three months into the U.S. bird flu outbreak, only 45 people have been tested. Laboratories that are the foundation of diagnostic testing have yet to get approval to detect the bird flu virus. They say their path forward has been slowed by miscommunication and uncertainty from the CDC and FDA.