US confirms human H5 bird flu case tied to dairy cow outbreak

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau
WASHINGTON DC , 24th May.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday has been identified a new human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A (H5 bird flu) virus infection in the US, CDC health authorities said.

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said as quoted by media report that the case, identified in the state of Michigan, is the second associated with an ongoing multistate outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cows.

According to the CDC the infected individual is a worker on a dairy farm where the H5N1 virus has been identified in cows.

The patient only reported eye symptoms, it added.

CDC has been watching influenza surveillance systems closely, particularly in affected states, and there has been no sign of unusual influenza activity in people, including in syndromic surveillance, the agency said.

It stressed that based on the information available, this infection does not change the CDC’s current H5N1 bird flu human health risk assessment for the US general public, which the agency considers to be low.

CDC said that people with close or prolonged, unprotected exposures to infected birds or other animals, or to environments contaminated by infected birds or other animals, are at greater risk of infection.

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