A second person has contracted the H5N1 virus from cows.
There's been another case of bird flu in the US, this time affecting an employee at a dairy farm in Michigan. This person is suffering from eye issues that resemble conjunctivitis. This is now the second human infection connected to the bird flu outbreak among dairy cows in several US states. The infected person works at a dairy farm where the virus has been detected in the cows, and they displayed eye symptoms similar to conjunctivitis, leading to a positive test result from an eye swab. Despite this, the CDC still considers the risk of bird flu for humans in the US to be low.
The first case of human infection in relation to the recent bird flu outbreak was reported at the end of March, with a person in Texas showing symptoms. They'd had contact with dairy cows that may have been carrying the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus, marking what's believed to be the first instance where a human was infected through cattle. In 2022, there was another human avian flu infection in Colorado, with a patient who had previously been in contact with poultry.
The H5N1 virus was first detected in US dairy cows at the end of March, most likely through contact with wild birds. The US Department of Agriculture announced this discovery. A few days later, it became known that a human had tested positive for bird flu in Texas, having had close contact with suspected infected cows. This is thought to be the first human case of H5N1 jumping from cows to people. Colorado saw another human avian flu case back in 2022, where the patient had also been in direct contact with poultry.
The Global Avian Flu Outbreak
Avian flu, also known as bird flu, is caused by influenza A viruses, a close cousin to the viruses that cause human influenza. The current global outbreak, which is affecting nearly every continent, is the largest ever recorded. The virus primarily targets birds, but has also been found in various mammals, including cats, bears, and seals.
Human infections are relatively rare. The CDC states that these can range from minor eye and respiratory infections to severe illnesses such as pneumonia. The risk of the virus adapting and being transmissible between humans is a cause for concern.
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- Given the ongoing global avian flu outbreak, the importance of education about infectious diseases like avian flu and viruses such as the H5N1 strain is crucial, especially in areas where there have been human infections, like the recent cases in the USA.
- Despite the low risk of bird flu for humans in the USA as stated by the CDC, efforts to control the spread of infectious diseases in livestock, such as avian flu in dairy cows, are crucial to prevent human-to-human transmission, as seen with previous cases connected to contact with dairy cows or poultry.
- The recent cases of human avian flu infections in the USA serve as a reminder of the potential threat that these infectious diseases and viruses pose, and the importance of research and development in the field of virology to understand, prevent, and treat such diseases, particularly those that have the potential to adapt and become transmissible between humans.
Source: www.ntv.de
