CDC Posts First Bird Flu Update Since Trump Took Office

The CDC posted a bird flu update to the health agency’s website on Wednesday, the first since President Donald Trump took office. The report provides a snapshot of recent human cases of H5N1, including two people who were hospitalized after being infected by different means, bringing the national total to 70 cases and one death. The new update, dated Feb. 26, includes recently confirmed cases in Nevada, Ohio, and Wyoming. The Nevada case is the most mild of the recently confirmed cases and involved a dairy worker whose symptoms included conjunctivitis (eye redness and irritation). That worker was infected by the dairy cows they worked with and experienced only mild symptoms before recovering, according to the CDC. The two more serious cases involve being infected by birds, though under very different conditions. The case in Ohio involves a commercial poultry farm worker who was engaging in the systematic slaughter of birds on a farm with infected poultry. The poultry farm worker expe ... Read full article.