First bird flu death in WA as outbreak spreads

Welcome back. Bird flu has hit cattle in Yakima County and birds in Monroe. One person is dead from exposure to those cattle and three others are sick. And advocates say the numbers of sick agricultural workers could be underreported because people are too afraid of ice to get medical care. Joining us live this morning to walk us through everything you need to know is Dr. Scott Lindquist, Washington State epidemiologist. Good morning, Dr. Lindquist. Thank you so much for being with us. Good morning. My pleasure. All right. So what do you think of the United Farm Workers Union saying they believe avian flu cases right here are unreported? Yeah, I mean, that is our concern, too. It's a very complicated situation in the sense that this isn't our first outbreak, but it is our first outbreak in dairies, and we're not sure that farm workers are really responding appropriately. Absolutely. We know through prior infectious outbreaks that if they're wearing PPE and they're aware that this is going on in their farm, they can protect themselves. When we are getting a list of all the farm workers and we're reaching out to every single one of them, we're making sure that all farmers have protective, personal protective equipment. So masks, gowns, gloves. We're not clear that they're all getting these appropriately. So we've actually gone out to a couple of these farms to inspect and make sure that they're getting it, that farm workers are aware, they know how to use it. And that we're preventing any death from this. Now, the majority of people that are coming forward, we've tested over, you know, about 60 people. Thank you. Most of them are negative, but we do have three confirmed cases. This is... The main presentation is conjunctivitis. So you can imagine for yourself, if you started getting conjunctivitis, would you go in and get tested? And people are dragging their feet, I think. And you've said it very well. I think there's not a lot of trust in the system right now. So we're dealing with that also. But unfortunately, one person got this and obviously had some underlying problems and expired. And that is what we're trying to prevent and making sure that everyone, farmers, farm workers, anyone in the hospital or clinic system are being protected. Is there any messaging the state can put out or you can put out that say, you know, please don't be afraid that ICE is going to be there. This is a bigger issue and we need to treat you medically. There are safe spots to come. Is that something that you're are you working the state with ICE or anything like that? Not working with ICE, but we are working directly with the farms and the farm workers and the providers in the community. And yes, we have done that. We have really done a lot of outreach. We're working with some national organizations. We're working with the local health jurisdictions on the ground. They're doing a great job. And our partner in this is the Department of Agriculture. And everyone has been great. Everyone's been at the table. We just need people To come in if they're having symptoms and get tested. And we have a big supply of something called Tamiflu, which is what we give persons if they've been exposed. Now, you know, my big message for the public is this. The risk to the public is very low, incredibly low. It does not pass through pasteurized milk. The only concern I have is if you're drinking or consuming unpasteurized milk products, you're at risk. But if you're working in this environment, you're at risk. So there's some really logical things we can do to protect ourselves. But for the general public, you are not going to get exposed to a dairy farm version of this just consuming milk. And lastly, before we go quickly here, what about kids or children or even adults who pick up bird feathers? Is that a way that they could pose a threat and danger to their health? Yeah. So, you know, here in Washington, we've had a lot of experience with avian influenza. It's in our wild birds and it can get into our backyard flocks and it can get into large commercial poultry. This uniqueness on this outbreak is its first time we've had it in dairy cattle. It can get into the mammary tissues of the cows. So, So the obvious things are you're in a farm. It's a very challenging environment. And so being very careful, hand washing is probably one of our best protections right now. If you're a small child and you have a backyard flock, you need to assume that our wild birds and backyard flocks could have avian influenza and do not touch wild dead birds. Or if you have backyard flocks that are obviously ill and you should be washing your hands and reaching out out to the Department of Agriculture if you've got any concerns. Dr. Scott Lindquist, Washington State epidemiologist, thank you so much for enlightening us this morning and helping us stop the spread of that. You're welcome. Thank you for having us. No problem. Have a good day.