Health alert issued by CDC: Person tests positive for bird flu, only 2nd human case in USFILE: Microbiologist Anne Vandenburg-Carroll tests poultry samples collected from a farm located in a control area for the presence of avian influenza, or bird flu.Photo by Scott Olson/Getty ImagesThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a health alert after a person in Texas was infected with bird flu. The person, a farm worker at a commercial dairy farm in Texas, is only the second person in the U.S. to test positive for the disease.The alert issued Friday said the current risk posed by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus, commonly known as bird flu, remains low. People exposed to infected birds, cattle or other animals at a higher risk of infection should take extra precaution, CDC warned.The recent positive test involved a farm worker on a commercial dairy farm in Texas. The person developed conjunctivitis, or pink eye, at the end of March and later tested positive for bird flu, which had been circulating in the area’s dairy cattle and wild birds. There have been no previous reports of the spread of the virus from cows to humans, CDC said, and human-to-human transmission has not been identified.The patient did not report any other symptoms and did not require hospitalization but was isolated and treated. It is the second person to test positive for bird flu in the U.S., after a patient in Colorado tested positive in 2022 after coming into contact with infected poultry. There have been no illnesses or deaths linked to the virus among humans.Bird flu is currently circulating among wild birds in the U.S., as well as outbreaks among poultry and backyard flocks. Infections among cattle have also been confirmed in four states – Texas, Kansas, Michigan and New Mexico – with another likely positive test in Idaho. The CDC said the spread has likely been due to the movement of cattle across state lines.CDC said it is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration and state health departments to monitor people who are exposed to infected animals.
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