Farmworkers say they are caring for sick cows amid bird flu with only gloves to protect themselves

GREELEY, Colo. — In early August, farmworkers gathered under a pavilion in a park here for a picnic to celebrate Farmworker Appreciation Day. One sign that this year was different from others was the menu: steak fajitas, tortillas, pico de gallo, chips, beans — but no chicken.

In recent months, farms in Colorado had culled millions of chickens to curb the spread of bird flu. Organizers packed the place with hot dogs.

Regardless of the menu, some dairy workers who attended the event said they don’t exactly feel appreciated. They said they haven’t received any personal protective equipment beyond gloves to protect themselves from the virus, even though they or their colleagues have suffered from conjunctivitis and flu-like symptoms that they fear are bird flu.

“They should give us something more,” said one Larimer County dairy worker in Spanish. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job if he spoke out. “What if something happens to us? They act like nothing is wrong.”

Agricultural health and safety experts have been trying to spread information about how to protect against bird flu, including through bilingual TikTok videos showing the proper way to gear up with 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 producer who asks for it.

But so far, many farms aren’t taking action: According to figures provided by the state health department in late August, fewer than 13% of the state’s dairies had requested and received such PPE.

The virus is known to infect mammals, from skunks, bears and cows to people and pets. It began showing up in dairy cattle in recent months, and Colorado has been the focus of attention. Ten of the 13 confirmed human cases in the U.S. this year have been in Colorado, where it continues to circulate among dairy cows. It is not a risk in cooked meat or pasteurized milk, but it is a risk to those who come into contact with infected animals or raw milk.

Weld County, where the farmworker event was held, is one of the nation’s top milk producers, supplying enough milk each month to fill about 45 Olympic-sized swimming pools this year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Neighboring counties are also top producers.

There is growing concern that farmworkers may be suffering from undiagnosed illnesses due to a lack of testing and safety precautions. One concern is that bird flu and seasonal flu can swap genes, so if they ended up in the same body at the same time, bird flu could end up with genes that make it more contagious. The virus doesn’t seem to spread easily between people yet, but that could change, and without testing, it could take time for health authorities to notice.

Seasonal flu strains already kill about 47,000 people a year in the United States. Public health officials fear the havoc a new form of flu could wreak if it spreads among people.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that dairy workers wear a respirator and goggles or a face shield, among other protections, whether or not they work with sick animals.

A recent study found that not all infected cows show symptoms, so workers could be interacting with contagious animals without realizing it. Even when animals are known to be infected, farmworkers often have to be in close contact with them, sometimes under grueling conditions, such as during a recent heat wave when Colorado poultry workers hand-picked hundreds of chickens to slaughter because of the outbreak. At least six of the workers became infected with bird flu.

A Weld County dairy worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job, said his employer has not offered him any protective equipment beyond gloves, even though he works with sick cows and raw milk.

His bosses asked workers to separate sick cows from others after some cows produced less milk, lost weight and showed signs of weakness, he said. But the employer said nothing about bird flu, he said, or suggested they take precautions for their own safety.

She said she bought protective glasses at Walmart when her eyes began to itch and turn red earlier this summer. She recalled experiencing dizziness, headaches and loss of appetite around that 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 wherever I go it will be the same.”

He said he had heard that his employers were unsympathetic when a colleague told them he was feeling ill. He had even seen someone connected to management take down a leaflet on how people can protect themselves from bird flu and throw it in the trash.

A dairy worker in neighboring Larimer County said he, too, has worn only gloves for protection, even when working with sick animals, close enough for saliva to stain him. He started wearing them when a co-worker missed work because of flu-like symptoms: fever, headache and red eyes.

“I only use latex gloves,” he said. “And I see that those who work with sick cows also only use gloves.”

He said he doesn’t have time to wash his hands at work, but he applies hand sanitizer before going home and showers when he gets home. He hasn’t shown any symptoms of infection.

These accounts from dairy workers echo those of Texas farmworkers, as KFF Health News reported in July.

“Employers who are being proactive and providing PPE appear 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.”

But Zach Riley, executive director of the Colorado Livestock Association, said he believes these scenarios are the exception, not the rule.

“You would be hard-pressed to find a dairy farm that doesn’t provide that PPE,” he said. Riley said dairies typically have a stockpile of PPE ready for situations like this, and if they don’t, it can be easily accessed through the state. “All you have to do is ask.”

Producers are highly motivated to keep infections at bay, he said, because “milk is their lifeline.” He said he’s heard from some producers that “their family members who work on the farm are working 18- to 20-hour days just to try to stay ahead of the curve, so they’re the front line of everything, to protect their employees.”

The Colorado Department of Health is announcing a hotline that sick dairy workers can call for help getting a flu test and medication.

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 PPE it received from the state so that promotoras (healthcare workers who are part of the community they serve) can distribute masks and other protections directly to workers if employers aren’t 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.”

She has been handing out leaflets about symptoms and protective measures, but she can’t get to many dairies. “And in some cases,” she said, “many of these workers can’t read, so the leaflets don’t reach them, and then employers aren’t doing any kind of talks or training.”

CDC’s Nirav Shah said during a call with reporters on Aug. 13 that awareness of bird flu among dairy workers is not as high as officials would like it to be, despite months of social media and radio campaigns.

“We still have a long way to go to achieve awareness equivalent to what could be achieved, for example, in the poultry world,” he said. “We are using all the messengers we can.”

KFF Health News correspondents Vanessa G. Sanchez and Amy Maxmen contributed to this report.