By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. well being officers on Friday warned that dairy staff stay in danger from the H5N1 chicken flu virus that’s infecting dairy herds, and urged them to put on protecting gear to keep away from an infection.
The U.S. CDC urged farmers, staff, and emergency responders to put on acceptable protecting gear when in direct or shut bodily contact with sick birds, livestock, feces, uncooked milk or contaminated surfaces.
The warning coincides with a letter printed on-line in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine detailing the case of a dairy employee who was contaminated with the virus in March and developed a watch an infection generally known as conjunctivitis.
Infection of the chicken virus is uncommon in people, and the dairy employee’s case represents solely the second recognized an infection within the United States. It follows a regarding unfold of the virus in a wide range of mammal species, elevating issues that widespread publicity in folks might trigger the virus to unfold extra simply in folks and spark a worldwide pandemic.