By MIKE STOBBE (AP Medical Writer)
ATLANTA (AP) — Officials stated on Monday that a person in Texas has been diagnosed with bird flu, which is connected to the recent finding of the virus in dairy cows.
The individual is receiving treatment with an antiviral drug, and their only reported symptom was redness in the eye, according to Texas health officials. Health officials mentioned that the person had come into contact with cows assumed to be infected, and they believe the risk to the public is low.
In the previous week, there were reports of bird flu in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas. Subsequently, federal agriculture officials confirmed infections in a Michigan dairy herd that had recently received cows from Texas.
Since 2020, the bird flu virus has been spreading among more animal species in numerous countries, including dogs, cats, skunks, bears, seals, and porpoises. Dr. Ali Khan, a former CDC outbreak investigator who now serves as dean of the University of Nebraska’s public health college, described the detection in U.S. livestock as an “unexpected and problematic twist.
The threat of bird flu to humans was initially identified during an outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997. Over the past 20 years, more than 460 people have died from bird flu infections, according to the World Health Organization.
Most of the infected people contracted the virus directly from birds. However, scientists have been monitoring for any indication of human-to-human transmission. Their main concern is that the virus could mutate to become easily transmissible among humans, although this has not occurred yet.
This is only the second time that someone in the United States has been diagnosed with Type A H5N1 virus. In 2022, a prisoner in a work program contracted it while culling infected birds at a poultry farm in Montrose County, Colorado. Their only symptom was fatigue, and they recovered.
Texas officials did not disclose the identity of the newly infected person or provide any details about their contact with the cows.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
