Merced County confirms its first human case of bird flu this year

A person who came into contact with livestock on a dairy farm is the first confirmed human case of H5N1 bird flu infection in Merced County this year, public health officials said Monday.

The case was discovered based on symptoms of direct exposure and confirmed by laboratory test results, according to a Merced County news release.

Officials said the risk level to the public is low. The people exposed to the infected livestock have been notified and are being actively monitored.

On October 18, the California Department of Health reported that the number of people with bird flu was 13. All these people came into contact with infected dairy cattle.

Dairies in the Central Valley have been overwhelmed by the virus. In some cases, the situation is so serious that dairies are overwhelmed by the large number of beef carcasses.

The disease is also extremely contagious and very fatal to birds. The virus makes all meat and eggs from the herd unsafe for human consumption. Millions of birds have been euthanized at poultry farms in Merced County and California because of the virus.

People can become infected with the virus if they come into direct contact with infected birds, cattle or other animals, even if they are dead.

It is also unsafe to come into contact with contaminated litter, feed, water troughs and other contaminated surfaces.

The risk of human infection of bird flu is low and human-to-human transmission is rare, the release said.

CDPH recommends that personal protective equipment or PPE, such as eye protection (face shields or goggles), respirators (N95 masks), and gloves be worn by anyone working with animals or materials that are infected or potentially infected with the avian flu virus. . Wearing personal protective equipment helps prevent infections.

Pasteurized milk and dairy products remain safe to consume as pasteurization is completely effective at inactivating the bird flu virus.

CDPH has helped coordinate and support outreach to dairy producers and farmworkers on preventive measures that have helped keep human case counts low in other states experiencing bird flu outbreaks. CDPH continues to support local health departments in distributing personal protective equipment from state and federal stockpiles directly to affected dairy farms, farmworker organizations, poultry farm workers, those who process raw dairy products and slaughterhouse workers. To protect California farmworkers from bird flu, CDPH has distributed more than 400,000 respirators, 1.4 million gloves, 170,000 goggles and face shields, and 168,000 bouffant caps over the past four months.

In addition, CDPH works closely with local public health laboratories and local health departments to conduct health screenings for exposed individuals and ensure testing and treatment are available when needed. As one of 14 states with infected dairy herds, California also received an additional 5,000 doses of seasonal flu vaccine for farmworkers from the CDC. Those doses will go to local health departments with the highest number of dairy farms.

CDPH has been monitoring bird flu and preparing for a possible human infection since the state’s first detection in poultry in 2022. CDPH is working closely with the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) on a comprehensive approach to improve the health of protect people and animals. CDPH and the CDC use both human and wastewater surveillance tools to detect and monitor avian influenza, and work closely with local health departments to prepare for, prevent and reduce its impact on human health.

People exposed to infected animals should monitor for the following symptoms for 10 days after their last exposure: redness of the eyes (conjunctivitis), coughing, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, diarrhea, vomiting, muscle or body aches, headache, fatigue, difficulty breathing and fever. If they begin to feel ill, they should immediately isolate, notify their local public health department, and work with public health and health care providers to receive timely testing and treatment.

CDPH recommends that all Californians – especially workers at risk of exposure to bird flu – receive a seasonal flu vaccine. Although the seasonal flu vaccine does not protect against bird flu, it can reduce the risk of co-infection with both viruses and reduce the chance of serious illness from seasonal flu.

– The Merced Focus contributed to this report.