Five More Patients Tested for Bird Flu in California 

United States – Five more patients who have been believed to have bird flu are undergoing tests following continued incidences of the flu in California’s dairy sector, as health officials revealed on Monday. 

The five new potential positive patients are in the state’s Central Valley and all five are waiting on test results, as reported by the California Department of Health, as reported by HealthDay. 

Six Total Cases Reported in California 

As of Monday, there are a total of six conventional cases in the state, the department shared in its news release. The people became infected with the cattle at nine farms and are exhibiting only mild symptoms such as sore and red eyes or watery discharge (conjunctivitis). No one has been hospitalized. 

The health department added that the specimens are to be flown to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing early this week. 

Risk to the general public is low 

The representatives of the Californian authorities stated that the overall threat to the population is still insignificant. However, they noticed that ‘people who come into contact with affected birds are at a higher likelihood of contracting avian flu.’ 

Interestingly, these six cases are unrelated, meaning that there is active circulation in dairy herds, and the infected animals present a threat to workers in proximate areas. 

One of the newly identified people who tested positive attended a farm where another of the infected individuals worked. Still, the two did not interact closely, having been employed in different sections of the farm, according to the CDC. 

There have been twenty positive bird flu cases this year. 

Heads of state have confirmed cases of 20 bird flu victims in the United States this year. The majority of them treated infected dairy or poultry animals. However, one person infected in Missouri has no understandable source of infection, as stated by local and federal authorities. 

Antigen tests are still outstanding for people who were close to the individual in Missouri, who has been admitted to the hospital with the virus. The contacts are several health workers some of whom attended to the individual with bird flu. Some of those workers developed mild respiratory symptoms, and state and federal officials pointed out that there was no indication of human-to-human transmission; this would be a change in the transmission mode. 

Bird Flu Affects 299 Herds in 14 States 

The CDC also mentioned that there are 100 herds with confirmed bird flu cases among cattle in central California. This element has shifted the proportion of herds across the country affected by the virus within infected cows on California farms. A total of 299 different herds located in 14 different states of the USA have reported positive for bird flu. 

As COVID surges, workers told to wear N95 respirators, face shields 

According to health officials, livestock workers should use PPE of N95 respirators, goggles/ face shields, and gloves, as reported by HealthDay. 

The CDC is also increasing measures to vaccinate people who are working with livestock against bird flu for seasonal influenza vaccines.