Suspected Washington infections add to fears about virus mutating during human flu season
Four farmworkers in Washington state have suspected cases of bird flu after working to remove carcasses from a farm where around 800,000 chickens were culled. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending a team to the state to investigate the suspected infections, reports Reuters. If confirmed, the cases will make Washington the sixth state, after California, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, and Texas, to have confirmed human cases of the virus. Washington's health department said the workers were part of a crew cleaning up at a farm where chickens were culled after they were infected by wild birds. Officials say the workers had mild respiratory symptoms and conjunctivitis, aka pinkeye.