The California Division of Public Well being (CDPH) at the moment introduced {that a} dairy employee with gentle signs who had contact with contaminated cows within the Central Valley has examined constructive for H5N1 avian influenza in preliminary exams at a public well being laboratory.
The native well being division was notified after the affected person skilled conjunctivitis, which was the one symptom. In its emailed press launch, the CDPH mentioned the affected person’s specimen can be despatched to the US Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) for confirmatory testing.
If confirmed, the sickness would convey the nation’s variety of H5N1 infections because the first of the 12 months to fifteen. 4 earlier sicknesses occurred in dairy staff, 9 occurred in poultry cullers, and one was present in a Missouri affected person who had no recognized animal publicity.
The affected person is being handled with antiviral remedy and is isolating at house.Â
Tomás J. Aragón, MD, DrPH, CDPH director and state public well being officer, mentioned, “Ongoing well being checks of people who work together with probably contaminated animals helped us shortly detect and reply to this attainable human case. Thankfully, as we have seen in different states with human infections, the person has skilled gentle signs.”
H5N1 strikes 11 extra California dairy herds
In associated developments, the US Division of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Well being Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed 11 extra H5N1 outbreaks in California dairy herds, boosting the nationwide whole to 255 throughout 14 states.
California, the nation’s largest dairy producer, has now reported 55 contaminated farms since September.
