The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported Wednesday that a second person in the United States has been infected with avian influenza linked to dairy cows.
The person, a farm worker who had regular contact with infected livestock, had mild symptoms and has since recovered, the agency said.
“The current health risk to the general public remains low,” said Dr. Natasha Baghdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical officer. press release. “At this time, there are no signs of sustained human-to-human transmission. This is exactly what public health is all about: early detection and surveillance of new and emerging diseases.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement that the animal was being monitored for symptoms after coming into contact with infected dairy cows. The person developed conjunctivitis, or conjunctivitis, and a sample taken from his eye tested positive for the virus.
This is the second case of a person developing conjunctivitis due to avian influenza infection. It was also the only symptom seen in a Texas dairy worker diagnosed in March in the first documented case of the virus spreading from dairy cows to humans.
The CDC said it is sequencing samples taken from Michigan workers to determine whether the virus has mutated to make it more transmissible between people.
of Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Additional cases of cattle were confirmed this week, bringing the total number of infected cattle in the state to 19 as of Wednesday.
at least nationally 51 herds in 9 states In addition to the Michigan herd, dairy cows in Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas have also tested positive for avian flu, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Federal health officials are scheduled to hold a press conference on the matter later Wednesday afternoon.
On Tuesday, Dr. Nirav Shah, CDC principal deputy director, told state and local health officials that even though the typical flu season is over and testing for the virus is ongoing, influenza infections continue to rise throughout the summer. The caller requested that surveillance continue at an “enhanced level.” This is the lowest value during this period.
Avian influenza, also known as H5N1, is a type of influenza A virus.
Shah said the CDC has recommended that states “increase the number of positive influenza A virus samples submitted for subtyping to detect rare cases of human H5N1 virus infection in the community,” the agency said in a news release Tuesday.
Since the H5N1 virus was first identified in 1997, just over 900 cases of human infection have been recorded worldwide. More than 50% of those cases have been fatal. According to the CDC:. However, the case fatality rate may be an overestimate, as cases may be mild and undetected.
This is the third case of H5N1 in the entire United States. In 2022, a Colorado inmate was diagnosed with the virus. The man worked on a commercial farm and was removing potentially infected birds. His only symptom was fatigue, which improved with Tamiflu.
At this time, there is no evidence that H5N1 is transmitted from person to person. None of the people living with the Texas dairy farm workers have become ill.
of Recommended by CDC All people in contact with dairy cows should wear protective equipment such as safety glasses, waterproof aprons, and disinfectable boots.
