A man in Colorado has become the first person in the United States to test positive for the latest strain of the bird flu.
The unidentified man, who is younger than 40, tested positive for the H5 variant of the bird flu, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Thursday. The variant has prompted farmers to euthanize and dispose of millions of poultry.
“This is the second human case associated with this specific group of H5 viruses that are currently predominant, and the first case in the United States,” said the CDC in a press release.
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The man who tested positive was isolated as of Thursday and only experienced fatigue symptoms, health officials said. The infection resulted from direct exposure to infected poultry at a commercial farm in Montrose County, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. An inmate at a state correctional facility, he was working as part of a pre-release employment program.
The affected flock has been euthanized and disposed of as required by federal guidelines, the state health department said.
The first case of bird flu in a human occurred in December 2021, when a man in the United Kingdom tested positive for the H5 bird flu. He did not have any symptoms and raised birds who became infected with the virus.
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The CDC emphasized that the case does not change the “low” human risk assessment for the general public.
The bird flu has had a significant effect on the agricultural economy, with the current variant wiping out more than 25 million birds as of April 2.
