Human avian flu diagnosed in a Colorado prison.
The first individual in the United States to test positive for the current strain of avian flu is a Colorado prison inmate who had close contact with sick birds.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the individual, who is an inmate at a state correctional institution in Delta County, has displayed mild fatigue symptoms.
The CDC said in a statement that “this instance does not modify the human risk assessment for the general public, which CDC deems to be below.”
The man who tested positive has been isolated and is being treated with an antiviral medicine, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health. As part of a correctional pre-release employment programme, he was working on a commercial farm with diseased chickens.
The virus may have been present in the person’s nose without developing infection since the person was in close contact with infected birds, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health. Nonetheless, the CDC stated that the case should be contained and treated like an illness.
People who work in direct contact with chickens should take extra measures, such as wearing gloves, masks, and eye protection, and washing their hands, according to the CDC.
The H5N1 virus can only very rarely pass between an infected individual and a close contact, and prior epidemics have shown that it does not lead to persistent spread among humans.
Only one other person has tested positive for the current strain; in December 2021, a person who breeds birds in the United Kingdom became infected but did not show any symptoms.
