Amid an ongoing outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows, there's been a third case of H5N1 avian flu confirmed in a dairy worker, U.S. health officials reported Thursday.
The previous two human cases—the first in Texas, the second in Michigan, where this latest case also occurred—involved only a brief discomfort of the eyes, linked to conjunctivitis ("pink eye"). However, this third case is the first to present with more typical respiratory symptoms, the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted in a health update. "The patient reported upper respiratory tract symptoms including cough without fever, and eye discomfort with watery discharge," the agency said. "The patient was given antiviral treatment with oseltamivir, is isolating at home and their symptoms are resolving.
" H5N1 has so far not become easily passed between people, and because all three U.S. workers became infected after prolonged contact with dairy cows, the CDC said the case is "another instance of probable cow-to-person spread.
" "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 agency added. The CDC is monitoring influenza activity closely in states affected by the H5N1 outbreak and said there's been "no sign of unusual influenza activity in people, including no increase in emergency room visits for influenza and no increase in laboratory detection of human influenza cases." So, "the risk to member.
