A dairy farm worker in Michigan has become the third person in the U.S. infected with bird flu in the current outbreak.
The patient suffered from watery discharge from the eyes, like the previous two cases, but also had a cough, the first time this has been reported in connection with this outbreak.
They were offered the antiviral oseltamivir and told to isolate at home and their symptoms were described as “resolving”. None of his colleagues or family contacts have reported symptoms of infection.
The case was revealed by the CDC, which said the worker had likely contracted the virus through close contact with cattle infected with the virus.
They said the risk to the general public was still low because cases were only recorded among people with close contact with livestock.
The map above shows states where bird flu infections have been confirmed in dairy cows.
The case follows two other infections reported among dairy farm workers: one in Texas and a second reported in Michigan last week.
Both were only reported to be suffering from eye symptoms such as redness and inflammation.
There are no links between the cases, and each is suspected to have been infected through a separate case of the virus that spread to humans.
The CDC said the patient’s swabs had tested positive for an H5 flu virus on May 29, and final confirmation that the case is H5N1, or bird flu, is expected in a day or two.
The agency said in the statement: “This is the first human case of H5 in the United States reporting symptoms more typical of acute respiratory illness associated with influenza virus infection, including (H5N1) viruses.”
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