California announces second person infected with H5N1 bird flu with no link to first – amid fears of outbreak
California health officials confirmed the state’s second human case of bird flu on Thursday, just hours after announcing the first, raising fears of an outbreak.
The second infected person, like the first, had contact with dairy cows that carried the virus. Both have mild symptoms, including red and swollen eyes.
The cases are not linked and there is no evidence the first person passed the infection to the second. Officials say there is no human-to-human transmission, but rather animal-to-human transmission.
Fears about the spread of bird flu are increasing as the virus has been diagnosed for the first time in a patient in Missouri who had not come into contact with sick birds, livestock or other animals.
The second person infected with bird flu in California, like the first, came into contact with dairy cattle carrying the pathogen
California health officials maintain the overall risk to the public remains lowas there is no evidence that the virus can be transmitted from one person to another.
According to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), “People who come into contact with infected animals, such as dairy or poultry farm workers, are at greater risk of contracting bird flu.
‘CDPH recommends that personal protective equipment or PPE, such as respirators (N95 masks), eye protection (face shields or goggles), and gloves be worn by anyone working with animals or materials that are infected or potentially infected with the avian flu virus.’
More than 250 herds of dairy cattle in 14 states have been infected with H5N1.
California officials added, “As an additional precaution, and per long-standing state and federal requirements, milk from sick cows is not permitted in the public milk supply.”
Fears about the spread of bird flu are increasing as the virus has been diagnosed for the first time in a patient in Missouri who had not come into contact with sick birds, livestock or other animals.
The above shows states where human cases of the bird flu, H5N1, have been detected – not yet including the latest presumptive positive case in California
This is the first photo of the Texas farm worker infected with bird flu. The infection started in the right eye and then spread to the left
It is possible that the patient drank raw milk, which made him sick.
Although drinking raw milk can pass the infection to the drinker, the milk on supermarket shelves has been pasteurized to kill pathogens and is generally safe.
In the worst case, the patient contracted the virus from someone else and the virus began to silently spread among Americans.
So far, fourteen people have tested positive for H5N1, but because bird flu does not always cause symptoms, there may be more sick people who have never been tested, according to CBS. CDC.
In March, a Texas dairy farmer tested positive for the virus and experienced similar symptoms to those reported in the California patients: conjunctivitis.
While the man had “very mild” symptoms, photos show how the virus burst the blood vessels in his eyes, leading to bleeding on the surface of his eyeballs.
Other symptoms that H5N1 patients may experience include coughing, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, headache, and body aches or muscle aches.
Nearly 900 people in 23 countries have been infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu over the past two decades, but all were linked to wild or farmed birds.
