In early August, farmworkers gathered at a park in Greeley, about 60 miles north of Denver, Colorado, to celebrate Farmworker Appreciation Day with a picnic. One sign that this year was different from previous years was the menu: beef fajitas, tortillas, pico de gallo, chips, beans — but no chicken.
Farms in Colorado have culled millions of chickens in recent months to stop the spread of bird flu. Picnic organizers rounded out the offering with a hot dogs.
Regardless of the menu, some workers at the event said they don’t exactly feel “appreciated.” They said they haven’t received any personal protective equipment beyond gloves to protect against the virus, even when they or their coworkers have suffered from conjunctivitis and other flu-like symptoms that they fear may be bird flu.
“They should give us something more,” said one Larimer County worker in Spanish, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job. “What if something happens to us? They act like nothing is happening.”
Farm health and safety experts are trying to spread the word about how to protect against bird flu, including through bilingual videos on the social media site TikTok showing the proper way to equip respirators, eye protection, gloves and coveralls. And Colorado’s health and agriculture departments have offered a free one-month supply of protective gear to any farm that requests it.
But so far, many have not requested it: according to figures from the state Department of Health, by the end of August less than 13% of the state’s dairy farms had requested and received this equipment.
Scientists know the virus infects mammals, from foxes, bears and cows to people and their pets. It began being found in dairy cattle in recent months, and Colorado has been one of the hardest hit states. Ten of the 13 human cases confirmed this year in the United States have been there, and the virus continues to circulate among dairy cows. It poses no risk in cooked meat or pasteurized milk, but it is dangerous for those who come into contact with infected animals or raw milk.
Weld County, where the farmworkers’ event was held, is one of the nation’s top milk producers, supplying enough each month this year to fill about 45 Olympic-sized swimming pools, according to Department of Agriculture data. Neighboring counties are also big producers.
And there is growing concern about undiagnosed cases among workers due to a lack of testing and safety measures.
Another reason to worry is that bird flu and common flu are capable of exchanging genes: if They coexist in the same body at the same time, bird flu could borrow genes that make it more contagious. The virus doesn’t yet appear to be spreading easily from person to person. But that could change, and without testing, it could take a while for health officials to notice.
Seasonal flu strains already kill about 47,000 people in the country each year. Public health officials fear the chaos a new form of flu could cause if it spreads from person to person.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that workers wear a respirator and goggles or face shield, among other protections, whether they are working with sick animals or not.
A recent study found that not all infected cows show symptoms, so workers could be in contact with contagious animals without realizing it.
Even when animals are known to be infected, workers often still have to be in close contact with them, sometimes under grueling conditions, such as during a recent heat wave when Colorado workers hand-picked hundreds of chickens to slaughter because of the outbreak. At least six of the workers became infected with bird flu.
A dairy worker in Weld County, who spoke anonymously for fear of losing his job, said his employer has not offered any protective equipment beyond gloves, even though he works with sick cows and raw milk.
Her bosses asked workers to separate sick cows from others after some produced less milk, lost weight and showed signs of weakness, she said. But the employer did not tell them anything about bird flu, or suggest they take precautions to protect themselves, she said.
She also said that earlier this summer she bought protective glasses at a Walmart when her eyes became red and itchy. She recalled experiencing dizziness, headaches and loss of appetite around the same time. But she self-medicated and kept going, not missing work or going to the doctor.
“We have to protect ourselves because you never know,” he said in Spanish, “I tell my wife and son that the cows are sick, and she tells me to leave, but it will be the same wherever I go.”
She added that she had heard that her employers were unsympathetic when a colleague told them he was feeling ill. She even saw someone connected to management take down a flyer about how people can protect themselves from bird flu and says she saw him throw it away.
The worker in neighboring Larimer County said he, too, has only worn gloves for protection, even when working with sick animals close enough to get saliva on them. He began interacting with them when a coworker missed work with flu-like symptoms: fever, headache and red eyes.
“I only use latex gloves,” he said, “and I see that those who work with the cows that are sick also only use gloves.”
The worker said that at work he doesn’t have time to wash his hands, but he uses hand sanitizer before going home and showers once he gets home. He hasn’t had any symptoms of infection.
These worker accounts are similar to those of farmworkers in Texas, reported in July.
“Employers who are being proactive and providing PPE seem to be in the minority in most states,” said Bethany Boggess Alcauter of the National Center for Farmworker Health, a Texas-based nonprofit that advocates for improving the health of farmworkers and their families. “Farmworkers are getting very little information,” she concluded.
Zach Riley, director of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, said he believes such scenarios are the exception, not the rule.
“You would be hard pressed to find a dairy operation that is not providing that personal protective equipment,” he said.
Riley added that farms typically have a stock of protective equipment ready for situations like this, and if they don’t, it’s easy to get through the state: “They just have to ask.”
Farmers are motivated to keep infections under control, he said, because “milk is their lifeline.” He said he has heard from some farmers that “their family members who work on the farm are working 18- to 20-hour days just to try to stay afloat, to be the front line of everything, to protect their employees.”
The Colorado Department of Health has announced a hotline that sick dairy workers can call for help getting tested for the flu and receiving medications.
Project Protect Food Systems Workers, an organization that emerged early in the COVID-19 pandemic to promote the health of farmworkers across Colorado, is distributing protective equipment it received from the state so that promotoras, health care workers who are part of the community they serve, can distribute masks and other protections directly to workers if employers are not providing them.
Promoter Tomasa Rodríguez said that workers “see it as another virus, another COVID, but it is because they do not have enough information.”
Rodríguez has been handing out flyers about symptoms and protective measures, but he can’t get to many dairy farms. “And in some cases, many of these workers can’t read, so the flyers don’t reach them, and then employers aren’t doing any kind of talks or training,” he said.
CDC’s Nirav Shah said during a call with reporters on Aug. 13 that awareness of bird flu among dairy farm workers is not as high as officials would like, despite months of online and radio campaigns.
“There is still a long way to go before awareness is at the level it could be in the poultry world,” he added, “we are using all the communication channels we can.”
This story was produced by KFF Health News, a national newsroom focused on in-depth coverage of health issues, one of the main programs of KFFthe independent source of health policy research, surveys and journalism.
