(LOS ANGELES) – U.S. health authorities on Sunday confirmed four new human cases of bird flu, bringing the number of people infected with the animal disease since the spring to eight.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a press release that the infected people are four “farm workers” who work on the same poultry farm.
A fifth case is also suspected and remains to be tested for authenticity.
However, the CDC has stressed that the risk to the American population remains “low.” Contaminated workers are experiencing “conjunctivitis” and “flu-like symptoms.”
An epidemic of bird flu was detected in the spring in the United States, with an unusual fact: this disease, which initially mainly affected poultry and birds, now also affects cows.
The first case was announced in Texas in the southern United States on 1any April. This was the first known case of bird flu infection in the world in a human being from a cow.
Two more cases were then reported in Michigan.
In early July, another case was identified in Colorado on a cattle farm. The western US state is now seeing the disease spread to cattle and poultry.
Experts are concerned about the growing number of mammals infected with the disease, although cases in humans remain rare. They fear that the high rate of circulation could make it easier for the virus to mutate and pass from person to person.
The CDC reiterated its call for precautions for workers handling infected cattle or poultry.
Additional genetic testing will need to be done on these new cases in Colorado, to detect any potential changes in the virus that could lead to “a change in the risk assessment authorities are making” for the population.
