Dairy cows
Shutterstock / Yuangeng Zhang
A person within the US has contracted fowl flu from contaminated dairy cows in Texas. This is the primary confirmed case of a subtype of the virus, named H5N1, transmitting between a human and one other mammal.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) introduced the information at present after confirming the constructive take a look at outcomes over the weekend. The person, whose solely symptom is eye irritation, is on antiviral drugs and recovering. They had been uncovered to cows believed to be contaminated with the virus, which has decimated international fowl populations.
Last week, cows throughout 5 US states – Texas, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico and Idaho – examined constructive for H5N1. It is unclear how they grew to become sick, nevertheless it now appears that the virus could also be spreading among the many animals, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Previously, mammals had solely been confirmed to contract the virus from sick birds. “There have been a couple of outbreaks that didn’t include humans where it is possible there was mammal-to-mammal transmission,” says Richard Webby at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Tennessee. For occasion, 17,000 child elephant seals died from fowl flu in Argentina late final yr. There was additionally an outbreak amongst farmed mink in Spain in 2022. But it’s exhausting to rule out the potential for different sources of the virus akin to contaminated meals in these conditions, he says.
Despite the recent human an infection, the CDC says the chance of contracting fowl flu stays low for most individuals. People in shut contact with contaminated birds or different animals, together with livestock, have the best danger. While pasteurised milk stays secure, individuals ought to keep away from consuming or dealing with uncooked milk merchandise.
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