Test rules out bird flu in worker in southern Brazil
A test conducted by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), released on Tuesday (May 20), confirmed that a worker at a commercial farm in Montenegro, Rio Grande do Sul state—where a bird flu outbreak was detected among the animals—was not infected with the disease.
According to the state health department, the test was carried out by analyzing the genetic material in the collected sample using PCR (polymerase chain reaction). Additional tests for influenza and COVID-19 were also conducted, all yielding negative results. So far, only this farm worker has exhibited flu-like symptoms, the department reported. He has been isolated at home.
Since last Friday (16), workers and employees at the farm in Montenegro and the zoo in Sapucaia do Sul—also in Rio Grande do Sul and sites of confirmed bird flu outbreaks among animals—have been monitored by the state health teams.
The State Health Surveillance Center (Cevs) emphasized that the risk of avian influenza infection in humans is considered low. Transmission primarily occurs among individuals who have close and frequent with infected birds or mammals, whether alive or deceased.
“The disease is not transmitted through the consumption of properly cooked food, and human-to-human transmission is extremely limited,” the center said in a statement.
