Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) They gave a health warning Friday to notify health care centers and the public of a confirmed human case of bird flu.
A farm worker on a commercial dairy in Texas developed cataracts, commonly known as pink eye, on March 27 and then contracted “highly pathogenic avian influenza” (HPAI), the CDC said.
HPAI viruses have been reported in dairy cattle and wild birds in the Texas area, but prior to this incident, there were no previous reports of HPAI spreading from cows to humans.
The patient did not report any other symptoms and was not hospitalized. The person received antiviral treatment and is recovering, and the patient’s family members have not become ill, the CDC said.
“Additional cases of human infection with HPAI A(H5N1) virus associated with current infections in dairy cattle and poultry in the United States and human-to-human transmission of HPAI A(H5N1) virus have not occurred,” the CDC said.
The CDC has tested the genome and sequence of the patient’s virus in cattle, wild birds and poultry. He found minor changes, both of which “lack changes that make mammals better adapted to pollinating.”
The USDA has confirmed infections in dairy cattle herds in five states – Texas, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico – and Idaho is considered positive. The CDC said the spread may have been caused by the movement of cattle across state lines.
States such as Nebraska have issued temporary restrictions on the importation of livestock due to bird flu.
The patient in Texas is the second person in the US to test positive for the disease. The first person to test positive was a patient who had contact with infected poultry in Colorado in April 2022.
The CDC says the risk is low, but people with jobs or recreational activities that expose infected birds, livestock or other animals are at high risk and should take precautions.
The virus has been fatal, accounting for more than 50 percent of human victims from 2003 to 2016. The current outbreak has infected 82 million birds in 48 states, making it the worst bird flu outbreak in US history.
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