Friday, May 31, 2024

Another dairy worker has bird flu


 

A second Michigan farmworker has been diagnosed with bird flu.


It is the third case in the United States and all three worked with infected cattle. The first two had eye infections and this third one also had respiratory symptoms.


The farmworker was given antivirals and is recovering from respiratory symptoms, health officials said.


The Michigan cases occurred on different farms and there are no signs of spread among people, officials said.


The risk to the public remains low, although farmworkers exposed to infected animals are at higher risk, health officials said. 


“Risk depends on exposure, and in this case, the relevant exposure is to infected animals,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.


Respiratory symptoms mean the person might be coughing and that is more likely to spread the virus than an eye infection.