CDC Issues Updated Guidance to Help Prevent Spread of Flu at Agricultural Fairs
Summary
What CDC knows
An outbreak of H5N1 bird flu among poultry and dairy cows continues to spread in the United States. Four human cases with exposures to sick cows have been reported.
What CDC is doing
CDC has issued updated guidance to help prevent the spread of flu, including from cattle to people, at livestock fairs or exhibitions across the country. CDC continues to respond to the public health challenge posed by the multistate outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in cows and other animals in the United States.
With agricultural and livestock fairs happening all around the country this summer and fall, the chances for people to be in close contact with pigs, poultry (e.g., chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese), and cattle increase. Livestock fairs and shows are an important learning opportunity for people of all ages interested in agriculture.
At the same time, animals exhibited at agricultural fairs and shows can carry and spread influenza A viruses that are different from the seasonal influenza A viruses that commonly spread among people.
As the multistate H5N1 bird flu outbreak in poultry, cows and other animals continues to spread, CDC is recommending that fair exhibitors take actions to help prevent the spread of influenza A viruses between animals and between animals and people.
