(SACRAMENTO) An individual in Texas is being handled for avian influenza (bird flu), in accordance to a report from state officials. The lethal virus has sickened dairy cows in 5 states in current weeks.
This marks the primary identified occasion globally of a particular person catching the H5N1 pressure of bird flu from a mammal and simply the second human case of the sickness in the United States, in accordance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An particular person who had contact with contaminated poultry caught the virus in 2022.
Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious illnesses at UC Davis Health, solutions questions about what you need to know about bird flu.
What is bird flu?
Bird flu is attributable to influenza strains that generally infect wild birds worldwide. They may also trigger outbreaks amongst industrial or yard poultry, and fewer generally different animals.
What are the signs of bird flu?
Bird flu might trigger birds to have respiratory signs equivalent to a runny nostril and coughing or sneezing, diarrhea, much less power, decreased egg manufacturing, or typically sudden demise.
In humans, bird flu might trigger diseases related to influenza (the flu) with fever, cough, sore throat, runny nostril and muscle aches. Less generally, humans might have diarrhea and vomiting, and more hardly ever, seizures.
How is bird flu sometimes unfold?
Most infections happen when humans have contact with sick or lifeless contaminated animals with out sporting private protecting gear.
How can cows get bird flu?
Many completely different bird species could also be contaminated with bird flu, and the infectious virus is shed in their saliva, mucous and feces. The shed infectious virus might then infect different animals, together with cows.
Is bird flu contagious person-to-person?
Bird flu hardly ever spreads person-to-person. It is more generally unfold from animal to human. There has been no proof of sustained human-to-human unfold.
Is it potential that bird flu has advanced in ways in which would help it unfold more simply amongst humans?
There is no proof bird flu is at the moment more simply unfold human-to-human, though there’s at all times a probability the virus might evolve to more simply transmit amongst humans. Most human infections with bird flu will be traced to unprotected close contact with ailing or lifeless animals.
Should people keep away from consuming beef or ingesting dairy merchandise?
Sick or ailing animals needs to be culled, and their animal merchandise shouldn’t be bought. Pasteurization will kill infectious virus in contaminated milk. There could also be a risk of transmission if unpasteurized milk from an ailing animal is ingested.
How is bird flu handled in humans?
Bird flu is handled equally to influenza in humans. The antiviral oseltamivir (Tamiflu) stays an efficient option to deal with humans contaminated with bird flu.
How can people defend themselves to forestall bird flu?
Avoid unprotected exposures to sick or lifeless animals. This consists of birds, poultry or different animals. For those that work with animals, full private protecting gear needs to be used when in close or direct contact with animals or materials that’s doubtlessly contaminated with the virus. This consists of an N95 masks or equal, goggles, gloves, robe, head cowl and boot covers.