How Health Departments Struggle To Track Human Cases of Bird Flu, shown in series of emails

Exclusive: Emails Reveal How Health Departments Struggle To Track Human Cases of Bird Flu - KFF Health News Emails show how health officials struggle to track the bird flu, partly in deference to the agricultural industry. As a result, researchers don’t know how often farmworkers are being infected — and could miss alarming signals. kffhnamym KFF Health News

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Hundreds of emails from state and local health departments, obtained in records requests from KFF Health News, help reveal why. Despite health officials’ arduous efforts to track human infections, surveillance is marred by delays, inconsistencies, and blind spots.

Several documents reflect a breakdown in communication with a subset of farm owners who don’t want themselves or their employees monitored for signs of bird flu.

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