The California Department of Public Health reported the state’s fourth case of a person contracting bird flu Thursday afternoon.
The infected person was from the Central Valley and had contact with infected dairy cows. All four people were in contact with infected animals at four separate farms. Authorities concluded that there was no known link between any of the confirmed cases, indicating that the disease spread directly from animal to human.
State public health officials were also notified of two more possible human cases of bird flu in the Central Valley, and samples were collected and sent to the CDC for confirmation.
Those infected have shown mild symptoms, including eye redness or discharge, and none were hospitalized. The risk of contracting bird flu for the general public is low, but the state’s public health department is expecting more cases of bird flu among people who interact with infected dairy cows.
Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, is a viral infection that most commonly affects birds; it can affect wildlife and reduce the food supply. Humans can be infected, but it is rare for the virus to spread from person to person. The H5N1 virus is the most common cause of bird flu in humans. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the death rate for bird flu in humans is over 50%.
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Some people with bird flu might suffer only mild or no symptoms, but many get severely ill. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, cough, muscle aches, sore throat, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, stuffy or runny nose and shortness of breath.
As of Thursday, the California Department of Food and Agriculture announced that 99 dairy herds in Central California were infected with bird flu. State public health officials recommended personal protective equipment for those who are working with animals or materials that may be infected with the bird flu virus, like face shields or safety goggles for eye protection, N95 masks and gloves.
According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, this current nationwide outbreak of bird flu began in poultry in 2022. It was first detected in dairy cattle in March.
Federal scientists took samples from the first two people in the Central Valley infected with bird flu to find out if the virus is mutating in a way that can make it more likely to infect other humans, resistant to antiviral drugs or capable of causing severe illness. The tests would also show if the workers were infected by cattle they worked with or elsewhere and how the disease traveled from state to state. Results of that examination are pending.