by That worker, who received a PCR test for the virus, had contact with the patient considered high risk and later developed mild symptoms.
Another employee who had high-risk contact and three others who had low-risk contact were not tested during the time they were experiencing symptoms, according to the CDC.
“PCR testing would have been unreliable at the time these individuals’ prior symptoms were detected,” the agency said.
PCR tests, which can provide quick results, have been common during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Along with healthcare workers, one member of the patient’s household developed symptoms but was also not tested, according to the CDC.
All health care workers with symptoms have provided blood samples for antibody testing, as have household contacts, the CDC said.
The results of those tests remain unknown.
Bird flu, also called bird flu, is rare in humans. There have been 14 human cases of the viral disease in the US so far this year.
Missouri’s handling of the only specimen with no known animal exposure has come under scrutiny.
Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, told the health publication STAT that he was concerned about how long it took Missouri to figure out who else might have been infected by the original patient are.
“The credibility of public health is really at stake here,” Osterholm said.
The 13 other cases in 2024 involved farm workers linked to bird flu outbreaks on dairy or poultry farms.
The CDC continues to warn that the risk to the general public remains low.
But cases of bird flu among cows have increased in the US this year.
Since the outbreak was first reported in March, cattle have been affected in 14 states, the CDC said.
