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Two farm workers in California have been infected with H5 bird flu, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Thursday.
The confirmation came hours later California Department of Public Health It announced the first two presumptive positive cases in humans in the state. Samples from both workers were submitted to the CDC for confirmatory testing.
Health officials said the two cases appear to be unrelated. The men worked on several dairy farms in California's Central Valley, and both farms were known to have cattle that tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza.
Both men had mild symptoms. In both cases, the main symptom is red eyes or conjunctivitis, which is a sign that a person has an infection in their eyes. This can happen if a person rubs their eyes with the virus on their hands or splashes contaminated milk on a person's face. Neither worker had respiratory symptoms or was hospitalized.
Health experts say the risk to the public is low. Agricultural workers are more vulnerable, but the CDC recommends that agricultural workers wear personal protective equipment, including face shields or goggles, face masks, and gloves, to reduce the risk of infection.
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“Continuous health screening of individuals who come into contact with susceptible animals has helped us quickly identify and respond to this human issue. Fortunately, as we have seen in other states with human infections, the person experienced mild symptoms,” said Dr. Thomas Aragon, CDF director and state public health officer. News release After the first issue is stated. “We want to emphasize that the risk to the general public is low and people who come into contact with infected animals should take preventive measures. CDPH continues to support local health departments and farms with prevention tips, health checks and guidance on proper notification, testing and treatment.”
In addition, there have been 16 human cases of bird flu in the United States since March. Most of them are related to outbreaks in poultry and dairy cattle. Previous cases have been identified involving workers in Texas, Colorado and Michigan. Missouri also identified one case in a patient with unknown exposure to animals.
Infectious disease experts are closely monitoring this virus because it has a new human host every time The possibility of change In ways that allow him to better adapt to people. If this happens, there are fears that it could cause a widespread epidemic. Most outbreaks are caused by different types of flu.
reporter Nadia Kunang contributed to this report.