Fourth case of bird flu confirmed in US

Health authorities have announced that a farmworker in Colorado has become the fourth person in the US to be infected with bird flu.

In a statement from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), health officials said the male worker had direct contact with infected dairy cows at a farm in northeastern Colorado and contracted bird flu.

The man developed mild symptoms and reported to health officials that he had conjunctivitis.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the man received antiviral treatment and recovered.

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Cows graze on an oil field. A dairy farmer in Colorado was infected with bird flu. (Reuters/Nick Oxford/File image)

According to Dr. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist at CDPHE, the risk of bird flu to the general public is still low, but it may be higher for people who come into regular contact with infected animals.

“The risk to most people remains low. Avian influenza viruses are currently spreading among animals, but they are not adapted to be transmitted from person to person,” Herlihy said.

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“The important thing to know is that people who come into regular contact with infected animals are at greater risk of infection and should take precautions if they come into contact with sick animals,” she said.

According to Dr. Rachel Herlihy, the risk to the public of contracting bird flu is low. (Reuters/Jim Vondruska/File photo)

Since March, three previous cases of human infection have been reported on dairy farms in Texas and Michigan linked to cows.

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Two of the workers also developed pink eye, while one person had mild respiratory symptoms.

In 2022, the first case of bird flu in the US was identified in a farmworker in Colorado who had been exposed to infected poultry.