Personal Protective Equipment Use by Dairy Farmworkers Exposed to Cows Infected with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Viruses - Colorado, 2024

Abstract

The risk for transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus from dairy cows to humans is currently low; however, personal protective equipment (PPE) use during work activities on dairy farms has not been well described. PPE use can protect farmworkers when they are working with highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1)-infected cows. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) offered PPE to all Colorado farms before or during an A(H5N1) outbreak in cows in 2024. CDPHE surveyed 83 dairy workers from three farms with a confirmed bovine A(H5N1) outbreak. Frequently reported farm worker activities included milking cows or working in the milking parlor (51%), cleaning cow manure (49%), and transporting cows (46%). Frequently reported PPE items available to workers before A(H5N1) outbreaks included gloves (88%), eye protection (e.g., safety glasses or goggles) (76%), rubber boots or boot covers (71%), and head covers (69%). N95 respirator use was low among workers who were exposed to ill cows after detection of A(H5N1) virus (26%). PPE use while working with ill cows increased a mean of 28% after detection of A(H5N1) virus on surveyed farms; use of eye protection while milking cows increased the most (40%). Public health PPE distribution, education, and collaboration with CDA might have increased PPE use on dairy farms with A(H5N1) virus-infected cows and mitigated risk for farmworkers acquiring A(H5N1) virus.

FIGURE

Dairy farm work duties and personal protective equipment and other items used by workers on farms with no exposure to ill* cows (A), with exposure to ill cows in the week before detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus (B), and with exposure to ill cows in the week after A(H5N1) virus detection (C) — Colorado, 2024 Abbreviations: HPAI = highly pathogenic avian influenza; PPE = personal protective equipment. * Once HPAI A(H5N1) was detected on a farm, any ill-appearing cow was considered potentially infected with HPAI A(H5N1).