A dairy worker in Michigan has tested positive for the H5 avian influenza virus, marking the second human case of avian influenza linked to an unprecedented outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus among dairy cows in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the worker experienced only a mild eye infection and, like the first case of a dairy worker in Texas, later recovered. The Michigan worker worked on a dairy farm that raised cows infected with H5N1 and was being monitored for symptoms related to exposure.
At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, CDC Principal Deputy Director Nirav Shah said the individual was part of an active surveillance system and that the state health department was sending daily text messages asking if they had symptoms. The employee’s infection was confirmed when the individual responded that they had symptoms.
Health officials took swabs from the worker’s nose and eyes. The CDC, which received the test swabs on Tuesday, confirmed that day that the nasal swab was negative but the eye swab was positive.
“We found this case because we were looking for this case,” Shah said, adding that the CDC and the state of Michigan were prepared to find additional human cases and expected it. emphasized.
in Another statement, Michigan Chief Medical Officer of Health Natasha Baghdasarian stressed that the state is closely tracking the situation. “The current health risk to the general public remains low. This virus is being closely monitored and there are currently no signs of sustained human-to-human transmission. This is precisely because public health is at an early stage. This is how it is intended to work in the detection and surveillance of emerging diseases. ”
The CDC also said the risk assessment to the general public remains low. However, the disease highlights the risks and necessary precautions for people who have come into contact with infected or potentially infected animals, the agency added.
It’s unclear how the worker became infected, but the CDC suspects raw milk splashed into his eye or he rubbed his eyes with contaminated hands. Raw milk from infected cows has been found to contain extremely high levels of the H5N1 virus. It is unclear at this time whether workers had access to personal protective equipment, such as face shields, which the federal government is working to distribute.
So far, CDC testing has only confirmed that workers are infected with H5 influenza. Further testing to determine whether the virus is specifically her H5N1 has not yet been completed. The CDC expects to have the genetic sequence of the virus in one to two days. At that point, researchers can assess whether the virus is the same as the one seen in cattle and whether it has acquired mutations that could make it more easily transmitted among humans.
Because H5N1 has the ability to adapt to new hosts with each new infection, experts are anxiously monitoring the dairy cow outbreak, first detected in March, for signs that the virus may gain the ability to cause an outbreak in humans. As a precaution, the federal government is working to complete production of 4.8 million doses of an H5N1 vaccine that is closely matched to the virus circulating in dairy cows, Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said at a press conference Wednesday.
To date, the U.S. Department of Agriculture 52 dairy herds infected with H5N1 in 9 statesMichigan reported 19 infected clusters.
This post has been updated with new information from today’s press conference and statement.
