Nevada confirms first human case of new bird flu strain from infected dairy herd
A Nevada dairy worker has become the first human known to be infected with a new version of bird flu from a dairy herd.
The flu strain (D1.1), which has been circulating in wild birds, is different from the version that has been spreading in American dairy herds since last year, federal health officials said Monday. It's also different from the strain of the virus (B3.13) that has caused the majority of human infections in the U.S.
D1.1 has a mutation that could make the virus spread more easily in mammals.
'That's a big deal,' said Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, reported NBC News.
Some experts fear that it could mark a new chapter in the outbreak, or that bird flu may become endemic in the U.S.,' warned Andrea Garcia, vice president of science, medicine and public health at the American Medical Association. 'This is something we are continuing to very closely follow.'
The dairy worker is Nevada's 'first and only human case of avian influenza' in an adult who was exposed to infected dairy cattle while working at a dairy farm, state health officials said in a statement.
'There is currently no evidence of person to person spread of this virus,' the statement added. 'While the current public health risk for the general public remains low, people who work with birds, poultry or cows ... are at higher risk,' warned health officials.
The Nevada dairy worker's illness was considered mild, but is the latest indication of a mutating disease infecting humans.
The dairy worker's main symptom was eye redness and irritation. The person, who was not identified, wasn't hospitalized and has recovered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Close contacts of the infected dairy worker are being closely monitored.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu had been seen before in more than a dozen people exposed to poultry. But this is the first time an infection was traced to a cow that then jumped to a human. The Nevada dairy worker was exposed at a farm in Churchill County, in the west central part of the state, state health officials said.
CDC officials said there is no evidence the virus has spread from the dairy worker to anyone else.
Another version of bird flu known as B3.13 was confirmed in March after spreading to cattle in late 2023, according to scientists. It has infected 962 cattle herds in 16 states, the vast majority of them in California.
The D1.1 strain was confirmed in Nevada cattle the last day of January. It was found in milk collected as part of a monitoring program launched in December.
That discovery meant that distinct forms of the virus spread from wild birds into cattle at least twice. Experts said it raises questions about a wider spread and the difficulty of controlling infections in animals and the people who work with them.
At least 68 people in the U.S. have been reported infected with bird flu in the last year, according to CDC data. All but a small handful worked closely with cows or poultry.
Most caught the B3.13 version. The CDC previously said the D1.1 version had been seen only in cases in Louisiana and Washington state. But on Monday, the agency revealed that available data indicates D1.1 last year likely infected a total of 15 people in five states – Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin – all related to poultry.
The D1.1 version of the virus was linked to the first U.S. death tied to bird flu and to a severe illness in Canada. A person in Louisiana died in January after developing severe respiratory symptoms following contact with wild and backyard birds. In British Columbia, a teen girl was hospitalized for months with a virus traced to poultry.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has ordered a temporary closure of live-poultry markets after bird flu was detected in the outer boroughs of New York City.
The order, signed by Hochul on Friday, requires the markets to close down between February 7-14 as facilities undergo a complete disinfection process, whether the markets have had cases of bird flu or not.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
3 hours ago
- Metro
Urgent recall of American sweets 'unsafe to eat and not compliant with UK law'
People are being asked to stop buying a range of American sweets that should never have been on shop shelves to begin with. Businesses have been asked to recall fruit-flavoured hard candies and gummies by Jolly Rancher, which is owned by chocolate giant Hershey's. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said they contain mineral oil hydrocarbons, which come from raw crude oil and other fossil fuels. These oils – Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons, (MOAH) and Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons, (MOSH) – make the products 'unsafe to eat and not compliant with UK laws'. The recalled products include: Jolly Rancher Hard Candy Jolly Rancher 'Misfits' Gummies Jolly Rancher Hard Candy Fruity 2 in 1 Jolly Ranchers Berry Gummies The FSA said today: 'For consumers, don't buy them, and if you've eaten these products, there should be no immediate cause for concern, as food safety risk is low, but don't eat any more. 'These products contain mineral oil, which isn't allowed in food in the UK and may pose a food safety risk if consumed regularly over a sustained period of time.' No illnesses have been reported. Mineral oil hydrocarbons sneak into food through a variety of means, such as via animal feed additives or machinery lubricants, according to the European Food Safety Authority. MOAH can act as genotoxic carcinogens – substances that cause cell mutations, damage DNA and potentially increase the risk of cancer if enough is consumed over a long period. More Trending MOSH has been known to accumulate in the liver, causing inflammation. Food safety officials said that Hershey's has been working to remove the sweets from the UK market, only for businesses to keep importing them. So the agency has issued a 'food alert for action', a notice that asks the authorities to help get an item off the shelves for good. Police and local authorities have been asked to 'immediately' contact businesses selling the sweets and get them to recall them. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Popular Aldi snack recalled in 13 US states due to 'life-threatening' allergen MORE: Coca-Cola recalls Topo Chico mineral water over fears of bacteria MORE: Urgent recall for 15,000 pounds of beef and meat jerky over allergy fears
Scottish Sun
4 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Bird flu outbreak spreads to farm in new UK region as chickens set to be culled & study finds chilling virus feature
All birds will be 'humanely culled' following the discovery VIRUS SPREADS Bird flu outbreak spreads to farm in new UK region as chickens set to be culled & study finds chilling virus feature Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BIRD flu has been detected in a Yorkshire farm, it's been announced. A case of the H5N1 bird flu in was found in poultry in West Yorkshire. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 A protection zone has been set up around the site Credit: Getty 3 The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "All poultry on the premises will be humanely culled." A 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone has been declared around the site near Ravensthorpe, Kirklees. It comes after a new animal study from the US Centres for Disease Control found that bird flu is capable of spreading through the air. In January, a bird flu outbreak was found at another farm in England, and experts feared the virus is one mutation from becoming pandemic. The government said all poultry on the infected site, in East Yorkshire, was humanely culled after a strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus was detected. It was the 16th outbreak of the HPAI H5N1 strain in kept birds in 2024, according to the Nation Farmers Union (NFU) AI tracker. In December, the virus was found on Turkey farms in Norfolk, which led to the culling of thousands of birds just days before Christmas. Bird flu, or avian influenza, has killed millions of birds worldwide. The highly contagious bug is now spreading to mammals, raising fears it could trigger another pandemic through potential human-to-human transmission. In December, an animal sanctuary in Shelton, Washington, announced that twenty exotic cats, including a Bengal tiger, four cougars, a lynx and four bobcats, have died after contracting bird flu. So far, there is no evidence that H5N1 can spread between humans. But this increase in transmission gives the virus lots of opportunities to mutate - a process where a pathogen changes and can become more dangerous. Experts from the US recently discovered H5N1 is already just one mutation away from developing the ability to transmit person-to-person. Scientists at Scripps Research in San Diego tested various genetic mutations on virus material from infected cattle. They found that the Q226L mutation enhanced the virus's ability to attach to human-like cell receptors, giving bird flu the potential to behave like other human flu viruses. A recent case of bird flu suggests the virus might have already mutated to better spread among humans. The case, spotted this month in a hospitalised Louisiana man, is the first "severe" bird flu case in the US, amid its rapid spread through cows this year. Tests show the case involved a mutated version of H5N1 that helps it bind to human upper respiratory cells. This could make it easier to spread between people through coughing or sneezing, raising concerns the virus is adapting to infect humans more effectively. Bird flu viruses do not typically bind to a cell receptor in human upper airways, which helps explain why H5N1 rarely infects people or spreads between them. Bird flu is spread by close contact with an affected bird. This includes touching or petting an infected bird, touching droppings or bedding, or killing or preparing infected poultry for cooking. However, bird flu cannot be caught through eating fully cooked poultry or eggs, even in areas with an outbreak of bird flu. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the human risk remains low, but urges countries to share information quickly for monitoring and preparedness as the virus spreads. 3 So far, there is no evidence that H5N1 can spread between humans Credit: Getty
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Bird flu outbreak spreads to farm in new UK region as chickens set to be culled & study finds chilling virus feature
BIRD flu has been detected in a Yorkshire farm, it's been announced. A case of the H5N1 bird flu in was found in poultry in West Yorkshire. 3 3 The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "All poultry on the premises will be humanely culled." A 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone has been declared around the site near Ravensthorpe, Kirklees. It comes after a new animal study from the US Centres for Disease Control found that bird flu is capable of spreading through the air. In January, a bird flu outbreak was found at another farm in England, and experts feared the virus is one mutation from becoming pandemic. The government said all poultry on the infected site, in East Yorkshire, was humanely culled after a strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus was detected. It was the 16th outbreak of the HPAI H5N1 strain in kept birds in 2024, according to the Nation Farmers Union (NFU) AI tracker. In December, the virus was found on Turkey farms in Norfolk, which led to the culling of thousands of birds just days before Christmas. Bird flu, or avian influenza, has killed millions of birds worldwide. The highly contagious bug is now spreading to mammals, raising fears it could trigger another pandemic through potential human-to-human transmission. In December, an animal sanctuary in Shelton, Washington, announced that twenty exotic cats, including a Bengal tiger, four cougars, a lynx and four bobcats, have died after contracting bird flu. So far, there is no evidence that H5N1 can spread between humans. But this increase in transmission gives the virus lots of opportunities to mutate - a process where a pathogen changes and can become more dangerous. Experts from the US recently discovered H5N1 is already just one mutation away from developing the ability to transmit person-to-person. Scientists at Scripps Research in San Diego tested various genetic mutations on virus material from infected cattle. They found that the Q226L mutation enhanced the virus's ability to attach to human-like cell receptors, giving bird flu the potential to behave like other human flu viruses. A recent case of bird flu suggests the virus might have already mutated to better spread among humans. The case, spotted this month in a hospitalised Louisiana man, is the first "severe" bird flu case in the US, amid its rapid spread through cows this year. Tests show the case involved a mutated version of H5N1 that helps it bind to human upper respiratory cells. This could make it easier to spread between people through coughing or sneezing, raising concerns the virus is adapting to infect humans more effectively. Bird flu viruses do not typically bind to a cell receptor in human upper airways, which helps explain why H5N1 rarely infects people or spreads between them. Bird flu is spread by close contact with an affected bird. This includes touching or petting an infected bird, touching droppings or bedding, or killing or preparing infected poultry for cooking. However, bird flu cannot be caught through eating fully cooked poultry or eggs, even in areas with an outbreak of bird flu. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the human risk remains low, but urges countries to share information quickly for monitoring and preparedness as the virus spreads. Bird flu: Could it be the next human pandemic? By Isabel Shaw, Health Reporter The H5N1 bird flu is running rampant in wildlife around the world and is now spreading in cows. In recent months, it infected people in Canada and the US leaving them severely unwell. This increase in transmission has given the virus lots of opportunities to mutate - a process where a pathogen changes and can become more dangerous. Scientists fear it's only a matter of time before one of these mutations makes it better at spreading among mammals - and potentially humans. Experts recently discovered that H5N1 is already just one mutation away from developing the ability to transmit person-to-person communication. Some experts believe the virus could already be spreading among some animal species. So far, there is no evidence that H5N1 can spread between humans. But in the hundreds of cases where humans have been infected through contact with animals over the past 20 years, the mortality rate is high. From 2003 to 2024, 889 cases and 463 deaths caused by H5N1 have been reported worldwide from 23 countries, according to the World Health Organisation. This puts the case fatality rate at 52 per cent. Leading scientists have already warned an influenza is the pathogen most likely to trigger a new pandemic in the near future. The prospect of a flu pandemic is alarming. Although scientists have pointed out that vaccines against many strains, including H5N1, have already been developed, others are still in the pipeline.
