Person infected with bird flu in Texas after contact with livestock

This case adds another worrying wrinkle to a global epidemic that has devastated populations of birds and marine mammals, and recently appeared in flocks of cattle.

At least one person in Texas has been diagnosed with avian flu after coming into contact with suspected infected dairy cows, officials said Monday. State.

This announcement adds a worrying dimension to an epidemic that has affected millions of birds and marine mammals around the world and, more recently, cows in the States - United States.

So far, there is no sign that the virus has evolved in a way that would help it spread more easily among people, federal officials said.

The patient worked directly with sick dairy cows. , said Lara M. Anton, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services. “We have tested a dozen symptomatic people who work in dairies, and only one person has tested positive” for the virus, she said in an email.

The patient's main symptom was conjunctivitis; the individual is treated with an antiviral drug and recovers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Department of Agriculture announced the first cases in dairy herds in Texas and Kansas last week, and a few days later, in an additional herd in Michigan. Preliminary testing suggests cows in New Mexico and Idaho may also be infected.

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