An individual in Texas has been recognized with a extremely virulent pressure of hen flu, the primary such case for the reason that virus was detected in a handful of dairy cattle in a number of states throughout the nation final week.The Texas Division of State Well being Companies mentioned in an announcement Monday that the contaminated particular person labored on a dairy the place some cows examined constructive final week for the H5N1 pressure of hen flu, which is taken into account to be a extremely pathogenic, or infectious, pressure. The affected person’s important symptom was pink eye.Sid Miller, commissioner of the Texas Division of Agriculture, mentioned it’s not but clear whether or not the particular person was contaminated by a dairy cow or via the identical supply that contaminated the dairy cows, which seems to be lifeless waterfowl that had been discovered on the property.Whatever the supply, Miller mentioned the general public shouldn’t be anxious. The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention issued the same assertion Monday, saying, “This an infection doesn’t change the H5N1 hen flu human well being danger evaluation for the U.S. normal public, which CDC considers to be low.”Instances of this explicit pressure of avian flu in people are uncommon however deadly in additional than 50% of these contaminated, in line with the CDC. A 21-year-old man in Vietnam died March 23 after being contaminated with the virus, in line with an announcement from the Vietnamese Ministry of Well being. The case in Texas is the second human case of this pressure of hen flu ever detected within the U.S. The primary case was confirmed in 2022, in a Colorado man who was a state jail inmate and uncovered to the virus whereas engaged on a poultry farm as a part of a pre-release employment program. The person’s solely symptom was fatigue. He was handled with an antiviral and recovered, in line with a CDC report. There have additionally been 4 instances in individuals contaminated with a much less virulent pressure of hen flu within the U.S.; there have been extra instances of each forms of the virus in people in different components of the world, in line with the CDC.The usually-deadly virus, which spreads rapidly amongst birds, together with domesticated chickens, has been spreading extra quickly amongst nonbird species, together with polar bears, foxes and marine mammals. The primary-ever instances of the H5N1 pressure in dairy cows had been detected final week in Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico and Texas. These instances got here simply days after goats on a farm in Minnesota examined constructive for the virus, although Miller famous the instances didn’t seem like spreading quickly and that the instances in cattle had been comparatively remoted. Dr. Jeff Bender, a professor of public well being and public well being veterinarian on the College of Minnesota in Minneapolis, mentioned that as birds perform their spring migrations, there’ll seemingly be extra pockets of outbreaks in different animals.“That’s what’s driving what we’re seeing with the cattle, as these birds are doing their spring migration, they might be shedding the virus,” Bender mentioned, noting that the birds’ feces might contaminate animals’ water sources.In an announcement final week, the CDC mentioned it considers the human well being danger to the U.S. public from the virus to be low, although individuals who work with livestock are at increased danger of an infection. The company additionally suggested towards consuming unpasteurized dairy merchandise, comparable to uncooked milk or cheese, from animals with suspected or confirmed instances of hen flu.“Industrial milk and meat is protected,” Bender mentioned. No milk from the contaminated cows entered the meals provide, Miller, the Texas commissioner, mentioned.RecommendedIf it had been to, “excessive warmth in pasteurization and cooking would kill the virus,” Bender mentioned.In line with the CDC assertion, the U.S. Division of Agriculture mentioned it doesn’t count on the hen flu instances in cattle to have an effect on meals security or provide within the U.S.“There shouldn’t be will increase in costs in milk or milk merchandise,” Miller mentioned. Proper now, the H5N1 pressure doesn’t seem like airborne, and the virus doesn’t seem to have mutated to unfold between cows, which is vital, Bender mentioned.“That’s one thing that must be monitored at this early stage,” he mentioned. “We all know how influenza adjustments. We have to know, do we now have cattle-to-cattle transmission? Meaning the virus is adapting and it means there are extra probabilities for the virus to vary.”A few of these adjustments might make the virus more proficient at infecting people, or permit it to leap from individual to individual.“We want that info so we are able to, if wanted, reply to an rising pandemic,” Bender mentioned.If the virus begins to contaminate pigs, that may be trigger for fear, he added.“Swine have the power to combine influenza viruses and they’re extra much like people, so that may be extra more likely to spill over into people,” he mentioned.There’s a small stockpile of vaccinations for avian flu the CDC can deploy if the virus begins spreading from individual to individual, and current antiviral medicine, comparable to Tamiflu, can be utilized to deal with hen flu in individuals, in line with the CDC. “The general public needn’t panic,” Miller mentioned. “We’re nonetheless within the early phases of understanding it, however we’re on high of it.”Kaitlin SullivanKaitlin Sullivan is a contributor for NBCNews.com who has labored with NBC Information Investigations. She experiences on well being, science and the surroundings and is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate College of Journalism at Metropolis College of New York.