The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a health alert about a confirmed case of human bird flu infection in Texas. The patient, a farm worker on a commercial dairy farm developed conjunctivitis (pink eye) and later tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
Prior to this case, no previous transmissions of HPAI from cows to humans had been reported in the area despite occurrences of the virus in local dairy cattle and wild birds. The patient was not hospitalized but required antiviral treatment. No other members of the patient’s household have shown symptoms.
Despite small changes detected in the patient’s virus genome and sequences from the cattle and birds, there have been no signs of the virus adapting to infect mammals more efficiently. USDA officials have reported instances of infected dairy cattle herds in Texas, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico and suspected cases in Idaho which are believed to be due to cattle movements across state lines.
Interestingly, this patient becomes only the second person in the U.S to test positive for the virus, following an earlier case in Colorado in April 2022. Importantly, some states are already implementing temporary restrictions on cattle imports.
The CDC advises that despite the generally low risk, anyone working or coming in contact with potentially infected birds or animals should take precautions. The present outbreak has seen a staggering 82 million birds across 48 states affected, making it the worst bird flu outbreak in U.S history.
Vocabulary List:
- Conjunctivitis (noun): Inflammation of the transparent membrane that lines the eyelid and covers the white part of the eyeball.
- Antiviral (adjective): Effective against viruses.
- Pathogenic (adjective): Capable of causing disease.
- Transmissions (noun): The action or process of being transmitted.
- Adapting (verb): Making changes to become suitable for a new use or purpose.
- Staggering (adjective): Extremely impressive or surprising.
