OutSources host kelly drumright shares details about bird flu, specifically the highly pathogenic strain H5N1, as well as local mutual aid group Covid Safe Colorado’s efforts to fundraise for farmworker PPE.
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H5N1, Worker Rights, and Fundraising for Farmworker PPE OutSources on KGNU
Covid Safe Colorado PPE Fundraiser for Farm and Dairy Workers.
Donate at: covidsafecolorado.org/H5N1.
For more information about Covid Safe Colorado, event details, to request support or get involved, visit covidsafecolorado.org.
Resources and Hot Lines
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Project Protect Food Systems. projectprotectfoodsystems.org/
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HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) tracking website by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
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The state is providing “up to a four-week supply of PPE for your facility”. Here’s the employer request form.
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Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) H5N1 webpage
To report sick birds or birds that have died from unknown causes, you can contact:
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Colorado State Veterinarian’s Office (303) 869-9130, or
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USDA-Veterinary Services Colorado Office (303) 231-5385, or
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Avian Health Hotline at Colorado State University (CSU): (970) 297-4008
Sources mentioned in the show
- Farmers are deliberately not testing. Numbers we have are an undercount. Reuters piece from mid-August 2024. https://www.reuters.com/
business/healthcare- pharmaceuticals/us- undercounts-bird-flu-cattle- farmers-shun-testing-2024-08- 15/ - Farmworkers are being denied information and PPE: according to a KFF Health News from August 27, 2024. https://kffhealthnews.org/
news/article/colorado- farmworkers-bird-flu-dairies- chickens-ppe/ - Person-to-person transmission is already occurring. Source: Stat News article from September 30, 2024 about a human case of bird flu in Missouri. https://www.statnews.com/2024/
09/30/health-care-ceo-pay- canada-assisted-suicide-bird- flu-morning-rounds/ - H5N1 is detectable in the wastewater. Source: September 2024 MedPage Today article about testing in Texas. https://www.medpagetoday.com/
infectiousdisease/ surveillance/111909 - Transmission between species confirmed. And asymptomatic transmission as well. “Spillover of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus to dairy cattle” Nature, 25 July 2024. https://www.nature.com/
articles/s41586-024-07849-4 - Scale of infection among other species is much bigger than we know. Source: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) https://www.aphis.usda.gov/
livestock-poultry-disease/ avian/avian-influenza/hpai- detections/mammals and Additional source: https://www.theguardian.com/ environment/article/2024/sep/ 04/forgotten-epidemic-with- over-280-million-birds-dead- how-is-the-avian-flu-outbreak- evolving - Compounding effects with COVID, since the pandemic isn’t over. In one survey, more Colorado workers tested positive for COVID than H5N1. Source: Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy article from August 29, 2024. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/
avian-influenza-bird-flu/ officials-detail-h5n1- clusters-colorado-poultry- cullers
