A second human case of bird flu has been reported in the United States, this time in a Michigan farmworker who had regular exposure to livestock infected with avian influenza, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The farmworker experienced mild symptoms and has since recovered, with no additional identifying information being released by the health department.
This comes after the first human case of bird flu was identified in Texas last month, also linked to cattle. The infected individual in Texas worked directly with sick cattle and reported eye redness as their only symptom. Including the Michigan case, there have only been three reported cases of bird flu in the U.S.
Despite these cases, the risk to the general public remains low, as stated by Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive at MDHHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Farmworkers who have been exposed to impacted animals are being asked to report even mild symptoms, with testing for the virus made available. The current health risk to the general public is low, and there have been no signs of sustained human-to-human transmission at this point. This demonstrates the effectiveness of early detection and monitoring of new and emerging illnesses in public health.
The MDHHS emphasized that they will continue to closely track the situation since
