A fourth human case of highly pathogenic avian flu in the U.S. was reported in Colorado by the CDC on July 3. CIDRAP has the news.
The patient is a “dairy worker who was being monitored because of work exposure to H5N1 virus-infected cattle,” according to the CDC. They received oseltamivir (Tamiflu) treatment and recovered. The CDC also maintains that “this infection does not change CDC's current H5N1 bird flu human health risk assessment for the U.S. general public, which the agency considers to be low.”
The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has also added two more avian flu dairy herd outbreaks, both of which are in Colorado, to its confirmed list, which shows 139 affected herds in 12 states.
Additionally, a new survey demonstrates that less than half of U.S. adults “know that drinking raw (unpasteurized) milk is riskier than drinking pasteurized milk.” The survey revealed several popular misconceptions surrounding the pasteurization process; over half of respondents think that drinking raw milk is either safer, just as safe, or are unsure whether or not it is more or less safe than drinking pasteurized milk. This is despite the fact that “raw milk is estimated to cause 840 times more illnesses and 45 times more hospitalizations than pasteurized products.”
Healthcare Purchasing News has previously reported on the H5N1 outbreaks this year.
