Another dairy farm worker in Michigan has contracted highly virulent bird flu. It is the third human case since the disease was detected among dairy cattle this spring, but the first time symptoms of the respiratory illness have been observed, US health officials said on Thursday.
A dairy farm worker complained of a cough, stuffy nose, sore throat and his eyes began to water. The other two patients had only eye symptoms, health officials said. The farm worker was prescribed antiviral medication and is now recovering from his respiratory symptoms, health officials said.
The risk to the public remains low, although farm workers who have come into contact with infected animals are at higher risk, health officials said. The cases in Michigan have occurred on different farms, and there are no signs of spread to humans, officials said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement:
Risk depends on exposure, and in this case, the relevant exposure is to infected animals.
The human case with respiratory symptoms was not unexpected – flu-like symptoms have been seen in the past in people infected with other strains of bird flu from poultry. But it raises the possibility of possible spread, says Dr. Nirav Shah of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said:
Simply put, someone who’s coughing may be more likely to transmit the virus than someone who has an eye infection.
In late March, a farm worker in Texas was diagnosed with the world’s first case of infection with this type of bird flu – H5N1 type A – from a mammal.
Causes of the infection’s spread
Last week, authorities in Michigan announced the second case of the disease in the US. That worker developed eye symptoms after ‘direct contact with infected milk in the eye,’ Michigan officials said in a statement.
None of the Michigan workers were wearing a protective mask or other personal protective equipment, which “tells us that direct contact with infected livestock poses a risk to humans and that PPE is an important tool to prevent the spread of infection to people working on dairy and poultry farms,” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical officer of the Michigan Department of Health, said in a statement.
The virus is breaking out
About 350 people in the US have symptoms of bird flu this year, including at least 220 people in Michigan, health officials said.
More than 40 people in the US have been tested for the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data from Michigan health officials indicate that most of them were in the state.
Since 2020, the bird flu virus has spread to other animal species – dogs, cats, skunks, bears and even seals and porpoises – in dozens of countries. As of Thursday, the H5N1 virus had been confirmed in 66 dairy herds in nine states, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
