Michigan Dairy Employee Identified With Chicken Flu

New York — A Michigan dairy employee has been recognized with hen flu — the second human case related to an outbreak in U.S. dairy cows.

The affected person had gentle eye signs and has recovered, U.S. and Michigan well being officers stated in asserting the case Wednesday. The employee had been involved with cows presumed to be contaminated, and the danger to the general public stays low, officers stated.

A nasal swab from the particular person examined destructive for the virus, however a watch swab examined constructive, “indicating a watch an infection,” the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention stated in an announcement.

The primary case occurred in late March, when a farmworker in Texas was recognized in what officers referred to as the primary recognized occasion globally of an individual catching this model of hen flu from a mammal. That affected person additionally reported solely eye irritation and recovered.

Since 2020, a hen flu virus has been spreading amongst extra animal species — together with canine, cats, skunks, bears and even seals and porpoises — in scores of nations. The detection in U.S. livestock earlier this yr was an surprising twist that sparked questions on meals security and whether or not it might begin spreading amongst people.

That hasn’t occurred, though there’s been a gradual improve of reported infections in cows. As of Wednesday, the virus had been confirmed in 51 dairy herds in 9 states, in response to the U.S. Agriculture Division.

Fifteen of the herds had been in Michigan. Well being officers there have declined to say how many individuals uncovered to contaminated cattle have been examined or monitored.

The virus has been present in excessive ranges within the uncooked milk of contaminated cows, however authorities officers say pasteurized merchandise offered in grocery shops are secure as a result of warmth remedy has been confirmed to kill the virus.

The brand new case marks the third time an individual in the USA has been recognized with what’s generally known as Kind A H5N1 virus. In 2022, a jail inmate in a piece program picked it up whereas killing contaminated birds at a poultry farm in Montrose County, Colorado. His solely symptom was fatigue, and he recovered. That predated the virus’s look in cows.