Workshop to Address PPE for H5N1 in Farm Settings

A two-day virtual public workshop to be held toward the end of this month will focus on the use of personal protective equipment to protect workers in high-risk farm settings from influenza A (H5N1) and controlling transmission between livestock and humans. The event is being organized by a planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and is sponsored by NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory. According to the event description, the workshop is intended to bring together technical experts, policymakers, leaders in the livestock industry, farm owners, and individuals who use personal protective equipment in farm settings, including farmworkers and veterinarians, to exchange knowledge and ideas on this topic.

The first day of the workshop, Sept. 29, is set to focus on how H5N1 spreads across species and how transmission affects the use of PPE in high-risk farm settings. The next day, workshop participants will discuss strategies to improve PPE effectiveness and adoption. Other topics to be covered during the workshop include the role of PPE relative to engineering, administrative, and other controls; farmworker needs and barriers to PPE use; and potential alternatives to NIOSH-approved respirators in high-risk farm settings.

Individuals who are interested in attending the workshop may register at no cost via the National Academies website.

As of Aug. 1, CDC had confirmed 70 human cases of H5N1 and one death. The virus is responsible for outbreaks in poultry flocks and a multi-state outbreak among dairy cattle that was first identified in March 2024. CDC characterizes the current public health risk as low and states that there is currently no evidence for person-to-person H5N1 transmission. More information is available from the agency’s website.