Another human case of bird flu linked to sick dairy cows has been detected in Michigan, marking the third farmworker diagnosed with the illness in the United States since March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. None of the cases are connected.
This is the second farmworker in Michigan in a week to be diagnosed with the illness. And a dairy worker in Texas was diagnosed in March. In those cases, the patients’ only sign of illness was a pink eye.
This latest case is different, however, because the patient also had a cough that accompanied eye symptoms. The person was given Tamiflu and was reportedly recovering.
All of the farmworkers at this latest Michigan dairy are being monitored for symptoms. The CDC recommended that anyone who comes into contact with a sick cow watch for symptoms for 10 days.
There is no evidence that the virus, an A strain of influenza called H5N1, is spreading from person to person, the CDC said. The infected workers are from different farms and had direct contact with sick cows.
As many as 67 herds in nine states have been affected, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. In addition to herds in Michigan, dairy cattle in Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas have also tested positive for bird flu.
“Given the extent of the spread of this virus in dairy cows, additional human cases in people with higher risk exposures would not be surprising,” the CDC said in a press release.
Federal health officials said that the risk of bird flu to the general public remains low.
“CDC has been analyzing data from influenza surveillance systems closely, particularly in affected states, and there has been no sign of unusual influenza activity in people, including in emergency room and laboratory data detection,” the agency said in a press release.
The CDC is performing genetic testing on samples of the virus taken from the patient to look for changes that indicate whether it’s mutating in ways that would allow it to spread easily from person to person. Those results could be available within days.
This is the fourth case of H5N1 overall in the U.S. An inmate in Colorado who had been working on a farm culling birds suspected to be infected with bird flu was diagnosed in 2022. His only symptom was fatigue.
Globally, less than 1,000 cases of H5N1 in humans have been identified. CDC data shows that more than half of those patients died, but that death rate may be an overestimate as mild cases may go undetected.
The CDC recommends that anyone in contact with dairy cattle — including bedding and animal feces — wear protective equipment, including safety glasses, waterproof aprons and boots that can be sanitized.
The agency also said that people should not drink unpasteurized raw milk.
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