US records second-ever human bird flu case amid concerns over global strain of virus
- Infected person is recovering from virus after exposure to dairy cattle. Disease has sickened herds in Texas, Kansas and other states in recent days
- Experts worried over rising number of mammals infected by current bird flu strain and potential for spread between mammals. Humans cases are rare
A person in the United States is recovering from bird flu after being exposed to dairy cattle, officials said on Monday amid rising concern over the current global strain of the virus.
“The patient reported eye redness [consistent with conjunctivitis], as their only symptom, and is recovering,” said the Centres for Disease Control (CDC). They were told to isolate and are being treated with the antiviral drug used for the flu.
The first US bird flu case in a human occurred in a Colorado prison inmate in 2022 – however, that was through infected poultry.
Experts are worried about the increasing number of mammals infected by the current H5N1 strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and its potential for spread between mammals, even as cases among humans remain highly rare.
“Initial testing has not found changes to the virus that would make it more transmissible to humans,” the US Department of Agriculture, the CDC, and the Food and Drug Administration said in a joint statement last week, which added the cows were infected by wild birds.
