During the monitoring period, after the seasonal influenza period had ended, 59 wastewater treatment plants showed increases in the H5 gene in bird flu that coincided with the recorded emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in dairy cattle.

Four people have reportedly developed symptoms of avian influenza after working with infected poultry in Franklin County.

The California Department of Public Health on Friday said the state's fifth and sixth human cases of bird flu had been confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Four agricultural workers tested “presumptively positive” for avian influenza, or bird flu, after working with infected poultry at a commercial egg farm in Franklin County, according to They are the first presumed human cases of H5 bird flu under investigation in Washington,

The CDC is deploying a team to Washington state to assess the health of farm workers who culled poultry suffering from bird flu after four workers are presumed to have been infected by the virus, U.S.

However, there is urgent concern over dairy cows. In California’s Central Valley, the carcasses of dead cattle have been piling up, a phenomenon documented in videos taken by a local veterinarian. According to the CDC,

All of the state's cases have been linked to contact with infected dairy cows, officials said. No human-to-human transmission has been documented.

Four agricultural workers in southeast Washington have preliminarily tested positive for bird flu after working around an infected poultry flock at a commercial egg farm. The cases, if confirmed, would be the first time people in Washington have contracted the virus since officials began tracking a notable rise of it in birds and other animals