Health officials said Monday that the H5N1 avian flu was detected last month in two asymptomatic chickens at a live bird market in San Francisco, but there is no sign that the public has been exposed.
The bird flu virus was found as part of routine tests at live bird markets around the state by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Market employees who had been in close contact with the birds were monitored and didn’t report any symptoms after a 10-day period, said San Francisco Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax in a report that appears on Tuesday’s health commission agenda.
No members of the public were exposed and the market has since reopened.
“At this time, there are no reported human cases of H5N1 and H5N1 remains a low risk to the general public,” the department said in a statement on Monday.