Animal News
Man in Texas diagnosed with bird flu after contact with cattle
Avian flu has spread to cattle and humans in Texas.
Avian flu found in an egg production facility in Texas as well as at least two Texas dairy farms, has spread to a person, the first known instance of a human catching bird flu from a mammal.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, the person had direct exposure to dairy cattle presumed to be infected with avian influenza, and suffered infection of the conjunctiva, the tissue surrounding the eye.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) first revealed in late March that a cow and milk from two dairies in Texas tested positive for bird flu, as well as from two dairies in Kansas.
As of April 2, it has been discovered in dairy herds in five states — Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, and Texas — according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The infections in Michigan were from cows they'd recently received from Texas.
The flu was also detected at an egg facility in Texas owned by Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., who shut down production, destroying approximately 1.6 million hens and 337,000 pullets. The facility is in Parmer County, on the Texas-New Mexico border about 370 miles northwest of Dallas.
According to Reuters, the Texas outbreak may have started a month ago, when an unknown illness affected about 40 percent of the dairy herds in Texas. They quote Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller who says officials did not know it was bird flu and cannot confirm it because the animals recovered.
"We were testing for every cattle disease we could think of and then somebody said, 'What are all these dead birds doing around the dairies?'" Miller said.
Miller blamed the outbreaks on migratory waterfowl.
Since 2020, the virus has been spreading among more animal species — including dogs, cats, skunks, bears, seals, and porpoises — in scores of countries.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said "the fact that it is in cattle now definitely raises our concern level."
