The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is asking states to prepare for more cases of bird flu by preparing to test people at risk for the virus, but insists the risk to the general public remains low , reports Reuters. This comes after a Texas dairy worker contracted bird flu, also known as bird flu, which has spread among the state’s cattle, as well as in Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota and Ohio. Avian flu has not spread to other people so far, but it has been detected in wild birds, including several geese, in New York City’s parks and green spaces, according to a report. new studyand there are renewed fears that other mammals may be infected.
How concerned should you be about bird flu and what could it mean for the food supply? Here’s what you need to know.
What is bird flu?
Avian flu – known clinically as influenza A (H5N1) – is a variant of the influenza virus that spreads primarily among birds and poultry and can be highly contagious and even fatal in birds, according to the CDC. Sometimes the virus spreads to other animals if they eat infected birds or drink water contaminated with infected bird droppings. CDC said. This has become more common in recent years. Viruses are constantly mutating, and the more they spread, the more they mutate. A recent family of variants may be particularly adept at infecting other animals, including cattle, according to the World Health Organization.
It is rare for the virus to infect humans, and when it does, it is usually limited to a single person who has been in close contact with an infected animal and does not spread to others. Avian flu can cause mild to severe illness in humans, and it can potentially cause pneumonia and severe, sometimes fatal, lung inflammation. Since 2020, there have been 26 human cases confirmed by the WHOseven of which were fatal.
What is happening now?
The CDC continues to urge calm and considers the risk to the general public to be low, but on April 5 the agency requested that state health departments begin preparing in case additional people become infected.
Until now the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed there are 12 infected dairy cattle herds in Texas, four in Kansas, six in New Mexico and Michigan, two in Idaho and one each in North Carolina, Ohio and South Dakota. Cases in birds in New York City parks and green spaces have also been confirmed by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Researchers.
The infected person in Texas was diagnosed after developing conjunctivitis, or pink eye. This is only the second human case of bird flu in the United States; the first one was a poultry farm worker who was infected in 2022 while slaughtering infected birds and recovered after experiencing only mild fatigue. Eye inflammation is the only symptom of the currently infected person and they are receiving antiviral medications.
Other workers on dairy and poultry farms are CDC…
