Four agricultural workers in Washington state may be infected with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI H5N1), commonly known as bird flu, the Washington State Department of Health said on Oct. 20.
The four individuals tested “presumptively positive” for the disease after working with infected poultry at a commercial egg farm in Franklin County, officials said in a statement.
The four potential infections mark the first presumed human cases of the virus under investigation in the state. The infections, if confirmed, would also make Washington the sixth state to report human cases of the virus after instances were reported in California, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, and Texas….