Rare human case of highly contagious bird flu confirmed in Texas

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that a person in Texas has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, otherwise known as H5N1 bird flu.

"This person had exposure to dairy cattle in Texas presumed to be infected with HPAI A(H5N1) viruses. The patient reported eye redness (consistent with conjunctivitis), as their only symptom, and is recovering," the CDC said in a statement. "The patient was told to isolate and is being treated with an antiviral drug for flu."

The CDC said this is the second case of a human testing positive for H5N1 in the United States, after a previous case was observed in Colorado in 2022.

"This infection does not change the H5N1 bird flu human health risk assessment for the U.S. general public, which CDC considers to be low," it added. "However, people with close or prolonged, unprotected exposures to infected birds or other animals (including livestock), or to environments contaminated by infected birds or other animals, are at greater risk of infection."

LOS CASOS DE TUBERCULOSIS EN EE.UU. EN 2023 ALCANZARON SU NIVEL MÁS ALTO EN UNA DÉCADA, SEGÚN EL CDC

Dairy cattle feed at a farm in March 2017 near Vado, New Mexico. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday that milk from dairy cows in Texas and Kansas has tested positive for bird flu.

Last week, dairy cows in Texas and Kansas were reported to be infected with bird flu – and federal agriculture officials later confirmed infections in a Michigan dairy herd that had recently received cows from Texas.

This bird flu was first identified as a threat to people during a 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong, according to the Associated Press. More than 460 people have died in the past two decades from bird flu infections, the World Health Organization says.

LAS AUTORIDADES SANITARIAS DE PUERTO RICO DECLARAN EL DENGUE EMERGENCIA DE SALUD PÚBLICA

Eggs are cleaned and disinfected at the Sunrise Farms processing plant in Petaluma, California, on Jan. 11, 2024, which had seen an outbreak of avian flu.  (AP/Terry Chea)

Texas officials did not identify the newly infected person, nor release any details about what brought them in contact with the cows.

Los CDC afirmaron que están "trabajando con los departamentos de salud estatales para seguir controlando a los trabajadores que puedan haber estado en contacto con aves/animales infectados o potencialmente infectados y realizar pruebas a las personas que desarrollen síntomas." 

A researcher wears a protective suit while collecting samples of wildlife, where the H5N1 bird flu virus was detected, at Chilean Antarctic territory in Antarctica, in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on March 13. (Reuters/Instituto Antartico Chileno)

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"Human illnesses with H5N1 bird flu have ranged from mild (e.g., eye infection, upper respiratory symptoms) to severe illness (e.g., pneumonia) that have resulted in death in other countries," the CDC also said.

Associated Press colaboró en la elaboración de este informe.