Sunday Night Bulletin- 4 H5N1 Presumptive Positive Poultry Responders in Washington
Echoes of CO in WA poultry depopulation; strain identification still pending CDC sequencing
As I stated earlier in the week when this case was first identified, I strongly suspect that the poultry flock may have been infected from dairy herds prevalent in the area. This ready infection of multiple responders adds to my suspicion that this may well be H5N1 2.3.4.4b B3.13 (“dairy strain”), which would strongly indicate that dairy workers in the area should also be closely monitored for zoonotic H5N1, whether or not agricultural officials choose to test local dairy herds for infection.
CDC virus characterization will soon provide more information on the phylogeny of the virus.
John