For the fourth time in just a few months United States of America a person contracted bird flu after coming into contact with an infected dairy cow – this time in the state of Colorado. As in the previous cases, the woman involved worked on a dairy farm and was exposed to cows where the H5N1 virus was found, the CDC said. In April, the first case of bird flu was reported in a worker on a dairy farm in Texas, followed by two more cases in Michigan.
The patient in Colorado had only mild symptoms Bird flu shown on the eyes and an antiviral drug was given. She has since recovered, the CDC said. However, she reiterated calls for precautionary measures for farm workers who come into contact with infected cows. For the case in Colorado, “further genetic analyses” would be conducted to identify potential viral variants. This could change the authority’s risk assessment for the population.
Fear of the coming pandemic
The H5N1 bird flu virus has been spreading to mammals in recent months, including dairy cattle in the US. Many US states have infected cattle herds; the epidemic was first detected in March.
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Some people are also infected, raising fears of an impending pandemic. In light of the spread of H5N1 in the US, the chief virologist at Charité Berlin, Christian Drosten, described the bird flu virus as a possible trigger for a coming pandemic.
Due to the rise of bird flu, the biotechnology company Moderna says it is receiving financial support from the US government in the development of its bird flu vaccine. According to the company, the funding of $176 million will be used to develop and test a pre-pandemic mRNA-based vaccine against the H5N1 bird flu virus.
For the fourth time in just a few months United States of America a person contracted bird flu after coming into contact with an infected dairy cow – this time in the state of Colorado. As in the previous cases, the woman involved worked on a dairy farm and was exposed to cows where the H5N1 virus was found, the CDC said. In April, the first case of bird flu was reported in a worker on a dairy farm in Texas, followed by two more cases in Michigan.