The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the second case of avian influenza (H5N1) in the United States, with the first case occurring in 2022 after a prison inmate was infected at a poultry farm in Montrose County, Colorado.
The Texas DSHS news release states the patient contracted the illness after exposure to cattle and was treated with antiviral drug oseltamivir after experiencing eye inflammation as his only symptom. The human case comes a week after the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) announced the “highly pathogenic avian influenza” was detected in Texas and Kansas dairies on March 26.
Texas DSHS stated on X, “The Texas Department of State Health Services has confirmed a human case of avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in Texas. The case does not change the risk for the public, which remains low. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/4agPoEK.”
The CDC press release states the severity of infections have varied: “Human illnesses with H5N1 bird flu have ranged from mild (e.g., eye infection, upper respiratory symptoms) to severe illness (e.g., pneumonia) that have resulted in death in other countries.”
The CDC stated the risk to the general public is low, posting on X, “A person in the U.S. has tested positive for #H5N1 bird flu virus after exposure to cows that were presumed to be infected with bird flu viruses. CDC is monitoring the situation & considers the risk to the general public to be low. Read full press release: https://bit.ly/4aymHmD”
