CDC issues health alert as bird flu is detected in person who had contact with an infected COW on a dairy farm in Texas – amid fears virus is poised to spillover to people

A person in Texas has tested positive for bird flu, officials have confirmed — amid alarm over the disease spilling over into humans.

The patient, who has not been named, was working on a dairy farm in the state and had contact with cows infected with the virus.

The individual is suffering from eye inflammation, their only symptom, and has already been isolated and treated with an antiviral for flu.

Officials say the risk to the general public from bird flu is still low, although the case has alarmed experts — who fear a worst-case scenario of the disease spreading to and then starting to spread between humans.

There are also no concerns over the safety of commercial milk at this time, officials say, because milk is pasteurized — which inactivates viruses and bacteria.

Tests revealed that an unknown number of cows have tested positive for bird flu Type A H5N1 in Texas, Kansas and New Mexico. Iowa is currently ‘monitoring the situation’ as it is also a dairy-heavy state. It comes after a goat in Minnesota tested positive last week. Bird flu has also been found in foxes, bobcats, striped skunks, raccoons and coyotes since the 2022 outbreak

They add that milk from sickly animals is also diverted and destroyed to ensure it never enters the human supply chain.

The case comes after a prison inmate working on a farm in Colorado also tested positive for bird flu in 2022.

The unnamed individual, who was under 40 years old, had been working with poultry before being diagnosed with the infection. He recovered with his only symptom being ‘fatigue for a few days’.