Avian flu spreading in California raises pandemic threat for humans

Public health experts have long warned that avian flu poses a significant pandemic threat to humans.

The timing of the outbreak will soon collide with the seasonal flu, complicating efforts to track bird flu.

Half of documented human H5N1 bird flu cases in the past two decades were deadly, according to WHO .

California is home to over 17,500 dairy workers, most of whom are in the Central Valley .

In California , the response has been divided into human and animal health, with agriculture departments taking the lead on testing milk to find infected herds.

The state is currently testing more than 350 dairies with a combined total of more than 1 million cattle.

Some farmers have expressed reluctance to allow public health officials onto their farms to conduct testing and surveillance.

A huge part of California ’s response has been getting PPE to dairies ahead of outbreaks.

Some counties are deploying wastewater surveillance to keep track of where the virus is showing up.

Still, experts say more needs to be done for workers, like financial compensation for missed work.