New Human Case Of Bird Flu Confirmed By CDC

A new human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza has been confirmed, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on May 30.

The patient is a Michigan resident who works with dairy cows. The patient’s age, gender, and work location weren’t disclosed by federal or state officials.

The patient likely contracted the bird flu from cattle, officials said. The person experienced symptoms after “direct exposure to an infected cow,” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical executive, said in a statement.

The case is the third confirmed among humans in the United States this year. The previously confirmed cases, one each in Texas and Michigan, also cropped up in farm workers.

Both of those workers experienced inflamed eyes and have since recovered, as did a person who contracted the illness in Colorado in 2022.

Globally, more than half of cases reported to the World Health Organization since the early 2000s have resulted in death.
The new case is from a different farm than the earlier case in the state, according to Michigan authorities.