A case of H5N1 influenza, also known as avian influenza or bird flu, has been reported in a farm worker in Michigan who had regular exposure to infected livestock, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It’s the second case reported as part of an ongoing outbreak of the virus in birds and cattle across the country and the third bird flu case ever reported in a person in the US. However, health officials emphasized Wednesday that the risk to the general public remains low.
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The person was being monitored for the virus because of their exposure to infected cattle, the CDC said in a news release Wednesday. A nasal test was negative at the state health department and later at the CDC, but an eye swab tested positive. The person reported only eye symptoms, and they have since recovered.
Eye symptoms such as redness, swelling and watering were also the only ones reported in the previous human case in this outbreak, in a dairy farm worker in Texas. That man took antiviral medications and recovered with no lasting problems.
“It is not unexpected that comprehensive testing identified a human infection,” the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release Wednesday. “Information to date suggests this is a sporadic infection, with no associated ongoing spread person-to-person.”
