In Bird Flu Fight, CDC Plans Seasonal Flu Shot Push for Farmworkers

The CDC is investing $10 million in a major push to get livestock workers vaccinated for seasonal influenza before the upcoming respiratory season, the agency announced on Tuesday.

Of the $10 million allocated to the effort, $5 million will be used for seasonal flu vaccines for livestock workers and another $5 million will go to the National Center for Farmworkers Health and partner organizations to focus on outreach and education efforts.

The CDC is working with states to develop ways to get the vaccine to approximately 200,000 livestock workers in the U.S.

Although the seasonal flu vaccine will not prevent infection from H5N1 bird flu, getting livestock workers vaccinated for seasonal flu can potentially reduce the rare risk of co-infection with the two viruses, Nirav Shah, MD, JD, the CDC’s principal deputy director, said on a call with reporters.

Since March of this year, H5N1 has spread to at least 171 dairy herds across 13 states. To date there have been a total of nine cases of H5N1 in poultry workers in Colorado, three of which the CDC confirmed last week. All of those cases have been mild, with conjunctivitis as the predominant symptom. Farmworkers who are involved with culling H5N1-infected poultry are at heightened risk for the disease.

Dual infections with both seasonal flu and H5N1 could potentially result in an exchange of genetic material between the two different influenza viruses in a process known as reassortment. “In theory, reassortment could lead to a new influenza virus that could pose a significant public health concern — a virus that has the transmissibility of seasonal influenza with the severity of H5N1,” Shah explained.

“We want to do everything we can to reduce the risk that the virus may change because of this coinfection and reassortment,” he emphasized. “Widespread seasonal influenza vaccine among livestock workers helps reduce this risk.”

During the 2022 flu season, the seasonal flu vaccine prevented 6 million illnesses, averted 65,000 hospitalizations, and prevented 3,700 deaths in the U.S. alone, Shah said.

In addition to warding off the risk of seasonal flu-H5N1 dual infections, protecting farm workers from seasonal flu is also critical because many live communally in rural areas where access to healthcare may be limited.

Healthcare systems in rural areas can easily be overwhelmed even during a regular flu season, let alone a severe one, Shah commented. “Vaccination against seasonal flu helps reduce the strain on hospitals in the fall and winter when influenza is circulating and thus helps protect the broader community as a whole,” Shah added.

Some of the money allocated to the National Center for Farmworker Health will be used to provide training and information sessions about H5N1 and also to collaborate with key partners in states to increase access to H5N1 testing, treatment, and personal protective equipment.

Shah reiterated that the CDC’s overall assessment of the risk to the general population from H5N1 remains low.

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