An individual in Texas has been identified with fowl flu, an an infection tied to the latest discovery of the virus in dairy cows, well being officers stated Monday.
The affected person is being handled with an antiviral drug and their solely reported symptom was eye redness, Texas well being officers stated.
Well being officers say the particular person had been contact with cows presumed to be contaminated, and the danger to the general public stays low.
Final week, dairy cows in Texas and Kansas have been reported to be contaminated with fowl flu – and U.S. agriculture officers later confirmed infections in a Michigan dairy herd that had not too long ago acquired cows from Texas.
The virus has been present in a whole lot of mammal species globally in recent times. This fowl flu was first recognized as a risk to folks throughout a 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong.
Greater than 460 folks have died previously 20 years from fowl flu infections, in keeping with the World Well being Group.
The overwhelming majority of contaminated folks bought it immediately from birds, however scientists have been on guard for any signal of unfold amongst folks.
It is solely the second time an individual in the USA has been identified with what’s often called Kind A H5N1 virus. In 2022, a jail inmate in a piece program picked it up whereas killing contaminated birds at a poultry farm in Montrose County, Colorado. His solely symptom was fatigue, and he recovered.
Texas officers did not determine the newly contaminated particular person, nor launch any particulars about what introduced them in touch with the cows.