United States: As US officials continue to track the spread of the bird flu virus, extreme heat might be a crucial factor in the virus’s spread to humans.
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As the officials reported, due to the heatwave in Colorado, equipment such as personal protective gear worn by workers culling infected poultry with H5N1, a highly pathogenic bird flu, is not working properly.
Four people who used to work in poultry have reportedly been infected with H5N1 recently, and the fifth one is awaiting the results, as the officials informed, reported the Guardian.
This is the first-time bird flu infection in humans has appeared in clusters in the US.
Difficulties due to climate change
According to the officials, workers wearing PPE kits on dairy farms face difficulties because of the excessively heated weather across many parts of the US. Colorado State had confirmed cases of bird flu in humans earlier this month, too.
The experts have revealed that climate change is directly linked to the intense heat across the country, amplifying the outbreak of deadly diseases like these.
Along with that, climate change is also causing the emergence of pathogens, which also include newly migratory patterns for H5N1-infected wild birds.
What more are the experts stating?
According to Alexandra Phelan, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, “When you change a global system like climate so profoundly, small shifts can have seismic impacts, sometimes in unexpected ways,” as the Guardian reported.
As the experts said, the workers in Colorado poultry farms catch bird by bird while putting them in a cart to kill them a few dozen at a time with the help of carbon dioxide,
As Julie Gauthier, from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), stated on Tuesday, “It’s a very, very manual – difficult, laborious process.”
Moreover, Nirav Shah, the principal deputy director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also stated that the outside temperature was 104F (40C). Still, inside the poultry farms, it was even hotter.
Therefore, due to sweat and giant industrial fans, the workers find it difficult to wear goggles and masks, sealing their faces.
Additionally, fans spread chicken feathers and debris, raising the chance of the spread of the virus.