Federal officials have downplayed the public health threat after a second case of the “most pathogenic” bird flu in the United States was confirmed in Texas.
The Texas Department of State Health Services announced that the person who contracted the virus was exposed while working as a dairy worker. The man had mild symptoms but received treatment, state health officials said.
“This infection does not change the assessment of the human health impact of H5N1 bird flu on the general US population, which the CDC estimates to be low,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (CCC) said in a statement. on Monday.
The CDC added, “People exposed to or exposed to infected birds or other animals (including livestock) or infected or contaminated by infected birds or other animals are at increased risk of contracting the disease.”
The USDA has confirmed infections in dairy cattle herds in five states – Texas, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico – and Idaho is considered positive.
It has led to an increase in cattle movement across state lines, particularly from Texas, the CDC reports. States like Nebraska have enacted temporary restrictions. Importing cattle due to bird flu.
Here’s what you need to know.
The worst epidemic among animals in American history
Bird flu, also known as H5N1 or avian influenza, has destroyed billions of dollars worth of poultry worldwide, but infections of livestock and humans are rare.
The modern history of avian flu in humans began in 1996 in China and spread to humans from geese to Hong Kong the following year. Within two months, it killed a third of the 18 people it infected. According to the CDC.
The Hong Kong epidemic showed for the first time that the virus can be transmitted from birds to humans. Direct, prolonged contact with or feeding on infected birds has often explained the spread of bird flu in the three decades since.
However, since then, people infected with the disease are rare and isolated. According to public health experts, the worst-case scenario is human-to-human transmission of the virus, which hasn’t happened yet.
Still, the virus killed more than 50 percent of its human victims from 2003 to 2016. A study published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)..
Second human infection in the US
The Texan dairy worker infection is the second in the U.S., but the first was in cattle.
In the year In 2022, a Colorado inmate was infected with the virus after participating in a work program at a poultry facility.
Neither the Texas dairy worker nor the Colorado inmate developed serious symptoms, and both recovered after treatment, the CDC reported.
Record the outbreak among poultry
In the US, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) killed 82 million birds in 48 states, causing massive commercial poultry production and billions of dollars in losses – the worst bird flu outbreak in US history. According to the USDA.
A day after the dairy worker’s arrest, Cal-Maine Foods, a major poultry producer, was ordered to “culling” nearly 2 million chickens after they tested positive for HPAI at their facility in Farwell, Texas.
Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller ordered the plant to be temporarily closed and asked producers to take action.
“In light of this recent development, all producers must practice heightened biosecurity measures. The rapid spread of this virus means we must act quickly,” he said.
Because the virus is a variant of influenza that has a “natural reservoir” in wild waterfowl. It is impossible to destroy And zoonotic infections continue, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
The CDC labeled the risk to the public “low” after finding no mutations in human transmission, and declared that commercial products such as milk, eggs and poultry are safe.
Public health authorities have been alerted to the spread of avian influenza.
The World Health Organization calls for extensive monitoring of all cases of HPAI, animal or human, for signs of potential risk to humans.
“The emergence of an influenza A virus can cause an influenza pandemic with the ability to infect people and be transmitted from person to person,” the World Health Organization said. “[The] He added that human immunity against the virus is low.
The CDC recommends that people practice good hygiene, avoid eating sick or dead animals, animal feces, and raw or undercooked animal products such as raw milk or raw eggs.
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