April 29, 2022 – A person who labored on a business poultry farm in Colorado has examined optimistic for avian influenza A(H5) virus, higher often known as H5 bird flu, the CDC mentioned Thursday.
That is the primary case of H5 chook flu in people in america and solely the second case on this planet, the CDC mentioned in a information launch. The primary case was detected final December in a person who raised birds in the UK. That man had no signs.
The one symptom the person in Colorado reported was fatigue, the Colorado Division of Well being and Atmosphere mentioned. He has recovered and is isolating and being handled with oseltamivir, an antiviral drug.
The CDC mentioned the person was serving to kill poultry that seemingly had the H5N1 chook flu.
He’s a state jail inmate who was engaged on a business poultry farm in Montrose County in a pre-release employment program, the Colorado Division of Well being and Atmosphere mentioned. The flock he was working with has been euthanized, and the response workforce and different inmates engaged on the farm got protecting gear, the CDPHE mentioned.
“Repeat testing on the individual was detrimental for influenza,” the division mentioned. “As a result of the individual was in shut contact with contaminated poultry, the virus might have been within the individual’s nostril with out inflicting an infection.”
This CDC mentioned the case doesn’t change the chance of chook flu for most of the people, which is taken into account low. Individuals who work with birds ought to proceed to take security precautions, corresponding to sporting gloves when dealing with birds and avoiding birds that seem like useless or ailing, the CDC mentioned.
“We wish to reassure Coloradans that the chance to them is low,” mentioned Rachel Herlihy, MD, state epidemiologist with the Colorado Division of Well being and Atmosphere. “I’m grateful for the seamless collaboration between CDC, Division of Corrections, Division of Agriculture, and CDPHE, as we proceed to observe this virus and shield all Coloradans.”
The federal authorities says the H5N1 virus has been present in business and yard birds in 29 states and in wild birds in 34 states for the reason that first circumstances have been detected in late 2021.
The CDC says it has tracked the well being of two,500 folks uncovered to birds contaminated with H5N1 and solely discovered one case of human an infection, in Colorado.
