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https://www.sciencealert.com/breaking-officials-report-texan-infected-with-bird-flu-after-exposure-to-cattle>
'A person in the US state of Texas is recovering from bird flu after being
exposed to dairy cattle, officials said Monday amid growing concern over the
current global strain of the virus as it spreads to new species.
It is only the second case of a human testing positive for bird flu in the
country, and comes after the infection sickened herds that were apparently
exposed to wild birds in Texas, Kansas and other states over the past week.
"The patient reported eye redness (consistent with conjunctivitis), as their
only symptom, and is recovering," said the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). They were told to isolate and are being treated with the
antiviral drug used for the flu.
The current outbreak began in 2020 and has led to the deaths of tens of
millions of poultry, with wild birds also infected as well as land and marine
mammals.
Cows and goats joined the list last week, a surprising development for experts
because they were not thought susceptible to this type of influenza.
The infected person was likely a farm worker, Louise Moncla, a pathobiologist
at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, told
AFP.
"If we find continued clusters of infections in cows, then it means we need to
start surveilling cows – and that would be a big change to how we think about
these viruses," she added.
"But at this time, there's not an enormous need for concern by the public," she
said.
The CDC said that the infection does not change its bird flu human health risk
assessment for the US, which it rates as low.
The first US bird flu case in a human occurred in a Colorado prison inmate in
2022 – however, that was through infected poultry.'
Via Rixty Dixet.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
