Federal and state well being officers mentioned they’ve confirmed a 3rd human case of chicken flu in California and recognized a further two new attainable circumstances.
The case was recognized in a Central Valley dairy farm employee who had contact with contaminated cattle, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention mentioned Thursday. So far, all three California circumstances occurred in dairy employees from three completely different farms with no recognized contact with one another.
In all three circumstances, signs had been delicate and concerned purple, bloodshot eyes — an indication of conjunctivitis. Not one of the three circumstances included hospitalization.
The California Division of Well being mentioned it has additionally recognized two new attainable human circumstances within the Central Valley, which is the state’s agricultural hub.
The identification of the chicken flu virus in individuals with publicity to contaminated animals will not be surprising, CDC mentioned, and it doesn’t change the company’s danger evaluation for most people, which continues to be low.
Outbreaks of H5N1 chicken flu amongst California dairy herds had been first reported in August. Since then, greater than 90 herds within the state have been affected by chicken flu, in accordance with the most recent replace from the Division of Agriculture.
Together with this most up-to-date case, 17 human circumstances of the virus have been reported in the US this yr. Earlier circumstances had been recognized in employees in Texas, Colorado and Michigan.
Additionally on Thursday, CDC mentioned it had sequenced the viruses from the primary two human circumstances reported final week and publicly posted the outcomes.
The company mentioned there have been no genetic modifications noticed which are recognized to be related to an elevated capability to contaminate or unfold between individuals or recognized to scale back susceptibility to antiviral drugs.
