American health authorities announced this Thursday that a third person was infected with avian flu in connection with an epidemic of this virus in cows. The risk for the American population, however, remained “low” indicated the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) of the United States.
As with the first two cases, the infected person works on a farm in Michigan and was exposed to sick cows. If the first two patients had only presented mild symptoms in the eyes, this third case shows “more typical” symptoms of a respiratory illness, including cough (without fever), detailed the CDC.
An “unsurprising” case
The infected person was treated with an antiviral drug (oseltamivir), isolated at home, and “his symptoms are improving,” added the CDC, specifying that his relatives did not present symptoms.
This third case is not surprising for health authorities due to the spread of the virus in numerous herds of cows in at least nine American states. “There is no indication of person-to-person transmission of the H5N1 influenza virus at this time,” the CDC said.
Genetic analyzes in progress
Announced on April 1, the first infection occurred in Texas, in the southern United States. This was the first known worldwide case of avian flu in a human via a cow. The second case was reported in Michigan last week. “a jet of milk in the eyes” would be the cause of the contamination according to Natasha Bagdasarian, health manager in this state in the north of the United States.
For the CDC, the priority today is to avoid further infections among farm employees as much as possible, stressing that it has asked states to provide them with adequate equipment. Furthermore, the CDC explained that “additional genetic analyses” would be carried out to detect any possible changes in the virus that “could modify the risk assessment”.