US: Second Human Case Of Bird Flu Linked To Outbreak Among Dairy Cows In Michigan

Two human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the US have been linked to exposure to infected dairy cows. Both individuals had mild symptoms and have recovered.

CDC considers the risk to the general public as low but is expecting more humans to be infected.

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A second human case of “H5N1 bird flu” has been found by the health authorities in the United States. The infection is linked to the recent cases of avian flu in dairy cows and thus, exposure to such infected cattle has been transmitting the disease to humans, as per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

The first human case of the H5N1 virus was found in Texas and the second was reported in the US state of Michigan. Alike the first case, the second individual too is a dairy farm worker. However, US health authorities said that both had only minor symptoms and have recovered, according to a Reuters report.

Both human cases of the H5N1 virus had red eye symptoms, as per the CDC. The Michigan state's Department of Health and Human Services said that the worker was exposed to infected cattle on a regular basis. Thus the US health agency said it expected "similar additional human cases". 

CDC expects more such cases but has assured that the risk to the general public is “low”. It also said that there has not been any reported case of human-to-human transmission of the virus as several people have been tested since March. 

The US health agency said that similar additional human cases could be identified, given the high levels of the virus "in raw milk from infected cows, and the extent of the spread of this virus in dairy cows." 

However, it also said that "sporadic human infections with no ongoing spread will not change the CDC risk assessment for the US general public, which CDC considers to be low." 

Meanwhile, experts have voiced their concern over the virus flagging a potential increase in human susceptibility. Scott Hensley, an influenza vaccine expert at the University of Pennsylvania said, "It is worrisome that the virus is spreading widely in cows because this can lead to changes in the virus that could potentially increase human susceptibility," reported Reuters. 

Moreover, scientists view the virus as a potential cause of “a global health crisis”. Dr Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan says, "It doesn’t appear to be the start of a pandemic but we urgently need to assess if additional human cases have occurred.”