Federal health officials are in Colorado this week, investigating an outbreak of avian flu among poultry workers. They say environmental conditions may have contributed to the virus' spread.
It was over 100 degrees last week when 160 workers in Colorado were culling 1.8 million chickens with avian flu at a commercial egg-laying facility.
Poultry workers dealing with the virus are required to wear white paper suits, goggles, boots and gloves for protection.
Still, four workers contracted the virus with a fifth case likely.
Dr. Nirav Shah, the principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the heat wave may have created conditions that made it easier for the workers to contract the virus. Large industrial fans were deployed to address the high temperatures.
"That certainly helped keep the barns cool," he said during a media briefing this week, "but those fans also spread things like feathers around which are known to carry the virus.
Julie Gauthier, with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, suggested that the fans may have compromised worker safety.
"The fans pushing the air made it hard to keep those goggles and N-95 respirators in place," she said.
Health officials are working this week to make sure workers have better-fitting protective equipment, as work to cull the flock continues. It was described as a labor-intensive process in which workers pick up chickens and put them into carts with carbon dioxide chambers.
More than 60 workers at the facility exhibited mild symptoms, from pink eye to respiratory effects, but only five workers tested positive for the virus. Workers were offered Tamiflu, but the CDC said it's not recommending vaccination for anyone working at the facility.
Preliminary epidemiological data show the virus in the chickens resembles the version spreading among dairy cows. More than 160 dairy herds have been confirmed with the virus in 13 states. Additionally, ten commercial turkey or poultry herds have been detected with avian influenza in the last month.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
