CDC tells doctors to watch for human infections from bird flu

A leading U.S. health agency this week advised health care personnel to be alert to the potential for human infections with the highly pathogenic bird flu virus that is devastating poultry in Iowa and other states.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory issued Tuesday also included recommendations for patient investigation and testing, infection control including the use of personal protective equipment and antiviral treatment and prevention.

The appearance of bird flu viruses in North American birds 'may increase the likelihood of human infection in the United States,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Though no human cases have been documented with the H5N2 virus affecting North America, the CDC said human infections with other bird flu viruses 'have been associated with severe, sometimes fatal disease.”

People who work with birds or have close contact with their contaminated environments may have greater risk of infection, according to the CDC, which recommended that poultry workers wear protective equipment around sick or dead birds.

The CDC also advised health care workers to consider bird flu when treating people exposed to poultry for respiratory ailments.

Though no human vaccines are available for the H5N2 virus, the CDC said efforts to develop one are underway.

More than 45 million chickens and turkeys have been destroyed at about 200 operations in 15 states. Iowa, by far the nation's leading egg-producing state, has absorbed about two-thirds of the losses.

Though some observers have sensed that the epidemic has begun to wane, Iowa recorded six more cases this week, with a running total of more than 29 million birds affected at 73 sites, according to Dustin Vande Hoef, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

On Wednesday, the department announced probable cases at a Sac County farm with an estimated 40,000 turkeys and a Hamilton County arm with 19,600 turkeys.

On Tuesday, the department reported probable cases affecting a Clay County farm with an estimated 1.1 million pullets and a Hamilton County farm with an estimated 18,000 turkeys.

Monday's report included a pair of turkey farms - one in Hamilton County with an estimated 36,000 birds, the other in Calhoun County with an estimated 21,000 birds.

As of Sunday, more than 22 million hens and pullets had been euthanized in Iowa, according to the Iowa Agriculture Department, which also reported that more than 1,700 USDA employees and contract workers are engaged in responding to the crisis in Iowa.

In other developments, the Iowa Department of Homeland Security announced this week that 15 members of the Iowa Hazardous Materials Task Force have been activated to help the USDA monitor biosecurity, cleaning and decontamination at infected premises and landfills.

The hazardous materials experts work for fire departments in Cedar Rapids, Burlington Council Bluffs, Muscatine and Sioux City.

In addition to the three Cedar Rapids firefighters on the task force - Paul Koenig, Shane Mell and Curt Woode - another member of the department, Capt. Mike Cheney, helped the USDA develop cleaning and decontamination procedures.