Fourth US dairy worker tests positive for H5N1 bird flu – The Telegraph

Two of those cases, in Texas and Michigan, reported eye irritation as their only symptom, while one farm worker in Michigan also suffered from a mild respiratory illness.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) said it still considers the health risk of H5N1 to the wider public to be low. Still, it encouraged anyone who works closely with livestock to report signs of illness to the relevant health authorities.

Although the virus has shown it can easily spill over to humans, there is no evidence yet of human-human transmission.

Many have criticised the CDCs response to the latest case, as well as its overall monitoring and surveillance of H5N1 this year, however.

Notice no mention of when the case occurred, how long the CDC has been aware of the case, and the withholding of information, said Dr Rick Bright, an immunologist and influenza expert, on X (formerly Twitter).

This is a ticking time bomb. The H5N1 virus is an unpredictable, rapidly evolving, easily transmissible virus that can cause severe illness and death. The more its allowed to spread among mammals, unchecked and unmitigated, the greater the risk it becomes to humans, he added.

Experts expect the human case number to rise significantly in the coming weeks, as state health authorities up their surveillance efforts to try and curb the spread.

After a slow start, the US authorities recently instigated a program of financial incentives designed to get farmers to cooperate with testing.

As part of the plan, the US government will pay up to $28,000 per farm over the next four months in an attempt to prevent the spread of bird flu in dairy cattle.

The funds are expected to go towards the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), decontamination of farming equipment, and testing capacity - both for animals and humans.

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Fourth US dairy worker tests positive for H5N1 bird flu - The Telegraph