How poor bird flu tracking puts dairy workers at risk

Farm workers have been exposed to milk infected with the bird flu virus. But there is virtually no testing on farms, and health officials know little about who might be infected.

Even though It's becoming increasingly clear that the country's bird flu outbreak on dairy farms began months earlier — and is likely much more widespread — than previously thought, with federal officials emphasizing that the virus poses little risk to humans.

However, there is one group of people who are at high risk of infection: the approximately 100,000 men and women who work on these farms. There has been no widespread testing to determine how many people might be infected. None have been vaccinated against bird flu.

This leaves workers and their families vulnerable to a poorly tracked pathogen. And that poses broader risks to public health. If the virus were to make its way to the general population, experts say, dairy workers would be a likely route.

"We don't know if it virus will evolve into a pandemic strain, but we know today that farmworkers are exposed, and we have good reason to believe they are getting sick,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Brown Pandemic Center. University School of Public Health. p>

The majority of dairy farm workers are Spanish-speaking immigrants, often undocumented, who do not necessarily have paid sick leave or are not eligible. protected by workplace safety laws. They may not have access to medical providers and their employers may be intolerant of absences.

“This sector of workers does not. is not only at the highest risk, because they "They have this direct, intimate contact with rejects, with raw milk, with infected animals, but they are also at a very, very high level of risk in terms of absence social safety net,” said United Farm organizer Elizabeth Strater. Workers.

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