Bird Flu Virus Hitting U.S. Is An Old But Mild Strain: CDC

A poultry facility in Michigan and an egg producer in Texas both reported outbreaks of avian flu this week.

Although health officials say the risk to the public remains low, there is rising concern, emerging in part from news that the largest producer of fresh eggs in the US reported an outbreak.

The latest developments on the virus also include infected dairy cows and the first known instance of a human catching bird flu from a mammal, Sean Murphy reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Although health officials say the risk to the public remains low, there is rising concern, emerging in part from news that the largest producer of fresh eggs in the US reported an outbreak.

Dr. Mandy Cohen, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told AP that the agency is taking bird flu seriously, but stressed that the virus has already been well studied.

The virus can infect 48 mammal species.

“The fact that it is in cattle now definitely raises our concern level,” Cohen said, noting that it means farm workers who work with cattle — and not just those working with birds — may need to take precautions.

The good news is that “it’s not a new strain of the virus,” Cohen added.

“This is known to us and we’ve been studying it, and frankly, we’ve been preparing for avian flu for 20 years.” The bird flu virus drawing attention today — Type A H5N1 — was first identified in 1959. Like other viruses, it has evolved over time, spawning newer versions of itself.

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