The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that a second American has caught the Bird Flu virus that has been linked to milking cows.
A 55-year-old farm worker got sick after working with cattle that had bird flu. A sample from the upper nasal tract did not show any signs of the virus, but a sample from the eyes did. It was first found in March in a farm worker in Texas. The two people had pink eye or conjunctivitis, and neither of them had any signs of a respiratory virus.
“Conjunctivitis has been associated with previous human infections with avian influenza A viruses and is part of the current CDC case definition for Bird Flu surveillance,” the CDC said.
They said, “While it’s not known exactly how eye infections result from avian influenza exposures, it may be from contamination of the eye, potentially with a splash of contaminated fluid, or touching the eye with something contaminated with the virus, such as a hand.”
The United States Department of Agriculture says that the Bird Flu has spread to about fifty dairy cows in nine states.
The CDC still said that there is a very low risk to human health. They said, “Based on the information available, this infection does not change CDC’s current H5N1 bird flu human health risk assessment for the U.S. general public, which the agency considers to be low.”
The outbreak is still being watched by the government, but pasteurized dairy milk is still safe to drink. The USDA’s Eric Deeble said, “At no time were animals that were sick with H5N1 or any other animal disease allowed to get into our food supply.”
Americans are also told by the CDC not to touch dead animals or animal waste, and they are told not to drink raw milk.
