Friday, 01 November 2024

Third Reported American Bird Flu Case, CDC Issues Statement

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A second human case of avian influenza was detected in Michigan.

The case, detected in another Michigan farmworker, is the third American human case of bird flu.

“The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says the new case was reported in a farmworker who worked closely with cows that tested positive for bird flu,” CBS News reports.

“That worker was employed at a different farm than the worker in the case announced on May 22,” the outlet added.

The patient reportedly experienced upper respiratory tract symptoms, including cough without fever.

Reports stated the farmworker also experienced eye discomfort with watery discharge.

Per CBS News:

Officials say the risk to the general public is still low, and the farmworker who tested positive was given antivirals and is currently recovering from respiratory symptoms, including a cough and eye discomfort with a watery discharge. The worker did not have a fever, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Household contacts with the infected farmworker haven't developed any symptoms, and no other workers at the same farm have reported bird flu symptoms.

“Michigan has led a swift public health response, and we have been tracking this situation closely since influenza A (H5N1) was detected in poultry and dairy herds in Michigan,” chief medical executive Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian said. “Farmworkers who have been exposed to impacted animals have been asked to report even mild symptoms, and testing for the virus has been made available. With the first case in Michigan, eye symptoms occurred after a direct splash of infected milk to the eye. With this case, respiratory symptoms occurred after direct exposure to an infected cow.”

“A dairy worker with exposure to H5N1-infected cows (at a different farm from the case last week) reported symptoms to local health officials. The patient reported upper respiratory tract symptoms including cough without fever, and eye discomfort with watery discharge,” the CDC stated.

“The patient was given antiviral treatment with oseltamivir, is isolating at home, and their symptoms are resolving. Household contacts of the patient have not developed symptoms, are being monitored for illness, and have been offered oseltamivir. No other workers at the same farm have reported symptoms, and all staff are being monitored. There is no indication of person-to-person spread of A(H5N1) viruses at this time,” the statement continued.

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From TIME:

For now, the CDC says the outbreak in cows does not pose a significant health threat to people who don’t routinely work with the animals. Those who do, however, should wear protective equipment and practice caution when handling sick or dead animals, including birds and cows, as well as monitor and report any flu-like symptoms to their local health department.

In the first Michigan case, the farmworker was directed exposed to contaminated milk that splashed in his eye, and he was not wearing any protective equipment. In the latest case, the worker was not wearing a mask and worked directly with a sick animal, says Bagdasarian. “Two points to take home are that so far, people who are at risk are those who have direct, sustained exposure to sick animals, and second, that neither was wearing full personal protective equipment,” she says. “So right now the risk to the general public is very low. There are no secondary cases of infections from these individuals, no sustained human-to-human transmission, and no cases outside of dairy workers.”

The United States and Europe have considered vaccinating poultry and dairy workers that health officials claim are 'at risk' of bird flu.


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