Michigan and federal disease control officials today (May 30) confirmed a third case of highly pathogenic avian influenza – bird flu – in a human. Although it’s the second case in that state, the two infections do not appear to be connected – most notably, not passed from human to human.
Like the other two cases, this victim was a farm worker who worked closely with influenza-positive cows. But this worker was employed at a different farm than the Michigan case announced on May 22. Also like the earlier cases, this farm worker was quickly provided antivirals and is recovering from respiratory symptoms.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to emphasize that the risk to the public remains low and that the disease so far has not shown the ability to spread from human to human. That would be scary.
This current wave and strain of bird flu – which actually dates back to January 2022 – has killed or caused the destruction of 96.5 million birds, most of them chickens, in 48 states. An Iowa egg farm on Tuesday (May 28) became the latest flock to be affected, with 4 million expected to be destroyed.
