As bird flu spreads, the people living closest to threat seem unfazed so far

PLATTEVILLE, Colorado ‒ The federal scientists in biohazard suits outside a massive ‒ but virtually deserted ‒ chicken farm don't need to say a word to indicate that something is very wrong.

On a normal day, the farm's driveway would be filled with trucks, some arriving with feed and others departing with cases and cartons of eggs destined for grocery stores and restaurants across the West.

But on a recent afternoon, all was quiet, except for a handful of workers drifting across the sprawling farm's complex, and the two white-suited experts with the federal government's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, their pant legs tucked in or taped carefully to their boots.

While the federal inspection workers can't say anything publicly, their presence signaled the increasing concern public health experts across the nation are displaying about an outbreak of "Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza" ‒ bird flu ‒ in this rural farming community about 40 miles northeast of Denver.

Gov. Jared Polis has declared a disaster emergency and released $3.5 million in funding for oversight, testing and safety equipment, federal officials have repeatedly briefed reporters, and workers have once again killed millions of chickens to slow the spread.

But while state and federal officials react with extreme caution to the virus and its dangerous potential, neighbors seem unconcerned.

"I know this all affects the farmers but it hasn't affected us," said Gail Balcom, 63, as she sat outside the Silver Spur bar, a few miles from one of the affected poultry farms.

Mostly, she was grateful that someone else was responsible for killing all those chickens. "I wouldn't want to do that job," she said.

The outbreak having a local impact, though. The Southeast Weld County Fair, scheduled to start on Aug. 8, is switching to an online photo-only poultry competition, to avoid bringing lots of chickens together. State officials are encouraging other county fairs and livestock events to be extra vigilant in showing and mingling cows and other animals.

The state veterinarian has also restricted the movement of poultry and eggs in large portions of Weld County. Federal officials are also requiring any lactating cow being transported across state lines to be tested for avian flu, unless they are headed directly to slaughter.

The situation echoes a similar outbreak in 2022, but this new strain appears to have infected Weld County poultry flocks after first infecting nearby dairy herds, along with 10 farmworkers . State officials said they don't yet know how it spread between the farms.

Risks to people

So far, the cows and people have gotten only mildly ill. The current version of the virus slows milk production in cows, and gives people respiratory symptoms and/or pink eye.

Experts say the biggest risk is that a person infected with seasonal flu could also catch avian flu, with the two viruses exchanging genetic material and creating something newly terrifying.

"Bird flus in particular tend to make everybody a little more nervous," said Dr. Michelle Barron, UCHealth’s senior medical director of infection prevention and control, and a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. UCHealth serves Colorado, along with parts of Wyoming and Nebraska.

"Right now, it's pretty mild, but flu viruses in general love to mutate and change," Barron added. "There's no human-to-human spread that we know of, but that's the concern."

None of the sickened farm workers required hospitalization, officials said. But federal and state experts are closely monitoring, and Polis last month ordered commercial dairies to test milk weekly for signs of the virus.

Neither the federal officials on site nor state officials would discuss whether this specific chicken farm was affected by the outbreak, with state officials citing a Colorado law banning public dissemination of that information. The farm's owner did not return a request for comment.

Colorado has more than 100 dairies and approximately 200,000 dairy cows, the vast majority concentrated in large operations in Weld County, which is also home to numerous poultry farms. The county is also an important migratory bird habitat.

Federal officials say wild birds can carry a mild infection of the virus and pass it on to domesticated chickens and turkeys, where it can be 90% lethal. The infection has also killed bald eagles, foxes, skunks and at least one bear in Colorado. In an Aug. 2 announcement, Colorado state officials said wild birds are not responsible for the current outbreak.

To help slow the spread, Colorado farmworkers this year have killed 3.5 million farm chickens, in addition to killing more than 6 million birds in 2022 to 2023 during what was then considered the largest foreign animal disease outbreak in state history. Typically, Colorado farms produce about 1.5 billion eggs annually, with about 5 million chickens statewide.

Because government officials are withholding the specific locations of the outbreaks, it's not possible to judge whether the same farms are being reinfected repeatedly, or to examine the economic impact the cullings and closures have on individual workers.

Weld County ‒ physically bigger than the states of Delaware and Rhode Island combined ‒ depends heavily on its agricultural production, along with oil and gas extraction.

In a written statement responding to USA TODAY, state agriculture officials said they are still trying to assess the economic impact of the outbreak. They said workers from 30 farms have been given protective equipment and said testing is available to anyone with symptoms who was exposed to either infected animals or people.

Federal public health experts say the majority of the Colorado farmworkers who got sick were likely infected when their protective gear slipped as they worked in 100-plus degree heat, grabbing and suffocating the chickens by stuffing them, a handful at a time, into enclosures that were then filled with carbon dioxide.

Why does Colorado have a bird flu problem?

Nationally, bird flu infections in cattle have dropped significantly except in Colorado, where about 20 of the infected herds have been detected, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Federal officials say Colorado might be an outlier because it's testing more often than other states, but also suggest Weld County's "quirk of history and geography" may also be playing a role.

While Colorado has fewer dairy farms than other big milk-producing states, they're mostly clustered in Weld County, alongside the poultry farms and migratory bird pathways.

"They are all in very close proximity to one another, and so there is a lot of sharing of equipment, a lot of sharing of personnel and a lot of movement on and off farms to adjacent farms,” Dr. Eric Deeble, the USDA's deputy under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs told reporters on a recent call.

Deeble, a veterinarian, said Colorado should be commended for the cooperation among producers, and state and federal regulators and health experts.

"As a result, we're seeing a relatively high rate of testing and getting really good answers and really good insight into the pattern of this disease," Deeble said.

Silent Colorado chicken farm fumigated

At the Weld County chicken farm, a handful of workers occasionally crossed the graveled yard among the dozens of long, yellow single-story buildings where chickens are raised and lay eggs.

The ventilation fans were silent, and buildings bore newly added temporary signs in both English and Spanish, warning they had been fumigated with formaldehyde, a common poultry disinfectant.

The buildings lack windows so workers can use light to trick the hens into thinking it's always springtime, making them lay more often. A job posting for egg handlers at the farm offers pay of about $20/hour, with bilingual skills encouraged.

Barron, the infection-control expert, said she hopes state and federal officials are working hard to ensure that farm workers and their families are being properly screened for the virus.

Clinicians might not test someone with mild respiratory symptoms if they lack direct contact with animals, she said, especially because there are no commercially available tests and everything has to be sent to a state lab. Positive results are then confirmed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Barron said the COVID-19 pandemic drove home for her the challenges of protecting workers who don't speak English well or who may not be legally employed, which can be the case at farms in Weld County. She said workers at risk of firing or deportation may be reluctant to speak up, especially if they don't feel particularly sick.

Public health officials must also ensure they are properly explaining to the workers what's going on, she said, such as how cows could be infected with bird flu, or why federal officials are wearing protective garments but farmworkers aren't.

"They don't ask because they don't want to be in trouble," Barron said. "You think about it differently when you don't have much money or security in that position."

In a statement, state agriculture officials said a bilingual outreach employee has spoken with 46 farm workers, and does not collect personal information from those workers. The state also declined to say whether any farms have refused to participate in the testing and monitoring, other than to say it has received "good" compliance.

"Close coordination and communication between all partners is critical for effective response to complex outbreaks," the statement from the Colorado Department of Agriculture said. The department said no one was available for an interview over the course of a week.

Outside the Silver Spur bar, Balcom and her friends chatted as cigarette smoke drifted into the sky. The group said they know several workers from farms with infections, but no one seemed to be talking about it much. They bemoaned the loss of fundraising egg sales for the high school's Future Farmers of America, and worried about what the chicken cull might do to egg prices again.

Still, they said there's little concern around the county.

"I don’t see anybody glowing or anything like that," laughed Katrina Windhorst, 61. Officials, she said "are making a mountain out of a molehill."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: As bird flu spreads, the people living closest to threat seem unfazed so far