Two dairy workers in California have contracted avian influenza, making them the 15th and 16th human cases detected this year in an ongoing outbreak affecting the country's dairy cows, health officials said. authorities announced Thursday.
The latest case was found in a worker who came into contact with infected cattle in California's Central Valley, where more than 50 herds have been affected since August.
The workers developed a red eye condition known as conjunctivitis and had mild symptoms.
California health officials said the workers were employed at another farm, are not linked to the two cases, and may have been infected through contact with animals rather than people. Ta.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday confirmed the first positive test result in California.
CDC officials said new avian influenza cases in people who had contact with infected animals are “not unexpected.”
The risk to the public remains low, they added.
Since the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak was confirmed in March, more than 250 dairy herds in 14 states have been infected.
Avian influenza has been circulating in wild and domestic birds in the United States for several years, and has recently been found in dairy cows.
Prior to this year, one case of avian influenza was detected in a poultry worker in Colorado who became ill in 2022.
Most of this year's cases were detected in workers in Colorado, Michigan and Texas who had contact with cattle and poultry.
A person in Missouri was also infected, but the person had no contact with animals and the cause of the illness has not been determined.
