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Federal health officials said on Monday that a dairy worker in Nevada had a new type of bird flu that differs from the version that has spread in the herds of the United States since last year.
The disease was considered mild. The main symptoms of a person were redness and irritation of the eye, similar to most of the bird flu assembly. The person has not been transferred to the hospital and he recovered, according to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A newer strain was seen before in more than ten people who are exposed to poultry, but this is the first time that the infection has been tracked to a cow. State health officials said that the Dairy worker in Nevada was subjected to a farm in the Churchill province, in the western central part of the state.
The officials of the Disease Control Center said there is no evidence that the virus has spread from this person to anyone else. The agency continues to say that the virus poses low risk for the general public.
The bird flu that is currently spread across animals, and some people, is known to scientists as the A H5N1 influenza. But there are different strains.
Watch | New fears of bird flu:
California has declared an emergency on the H1N5 bird flu, as the virus is widespread in dairy herds. While cases are still rare in humans, experts urge those who work with birds and livestock to take precautions.
Scientists said a copy known as B3.13 was confirmed in March after spreading to livestock in late 2023. 962 cattle herds hit 16 states, the vast majority of them in California.
The latest version, known as D1.1, was confirmed in livestock in Nevada on January 31. It was found in the milk collected as part of a monitoring program that started in December.
A new case raises questions
This discovery means distinctive shapes of the virus that spread from wild birds to livestock at least twice. Experts said it raises questions about the wider spread and difficulty in controlling infections in animals and people working with them.
At least 68 people in the United States have bird flu in the past year, according to CDC data. All, except for a small handful, worked closely with cows or poultry.
Most of them caught the B3.13 version. The Center for Disease Control said that the D1.1 version was seen only in cases in Louisiana and Washington. But on Monday, the agency revealed that the available data indicates that the D1.1 of last year is likely to develop a total of 15 people in five states – Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon, Washington and Yistonen – all of them related to poultry.
The D1.1 version of the virus was linked to the first death of the United States associated with bird flu and severe disease in Canada. A person in Louisiana died in January after developing severe respiratory symptoms after contacting wild and rear birds. In British Columbia, a teenage girl was taken to the hospital for weeks with a virus that followed to poultry.
While the general public risk is low, the center of diseases control that bird flu is a greater threat to people with close or long connection with infected cows, birds or other animals. These people are encouraged to wear protective equipment and take other precautions.
