New bird flu case in Michigan farmworker is first with acute respiratory symptoms
(CBS DETROIT) - A second dairy farm worker in Michigan has contracted bird flu, and health experts are weighing in since this is the first case in the U.S. to involve acute respiratory symptoms.
The new case is the third human case overall linked to the multistate H5 avian influenza outbreak in dairy cows. All three cases — one in Texas and two in Michigan — involve workers exposed to infected cows, but the symptoms in the most recent case have varied slightly from the others seen so far.
The third farmworker to contract the bird flu reported acute respiratory symptoms, while the other two only reported eye symptoms.
Dr. Celine Gounder, CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for KFF Health News, joined "CBS Mornings" to discuss what people should know about the third worker having these new symptoms. Gounder said that when the virus is just in the eye, it's harder to transmit to other people, but with respiratory symptoms, it's easier to spread due to coughing.
Risk to the general public remains low, according to the CDC, but Gounder emphasized that risk to farmworkers, especially ones with direct contact with dairy cows, is high.
So far, the three cases have been spread from cattle to humans, and there haven't been any cases of human-to-human spread of bird flu, but Gounder said it could happen.
"We are not aware of any human-to-human cases ever having occurred, but that is precisely how you get the next epidemic or pandemic is if the virus mutates, adapts to humans, where it can spread human-to-human," said Gounder.
Right now, the vaccine for bird flu is made with eggs, which is a big concern.
"Our flu manufacturing is based on eggs; bird flu kills birds; birds lay eggs, so your whole manufacturing process is really in jeopardy, potentially, from the very virus you're trying to combat," said Gounder. "So, we really do need to develop alternatives to the egg-based manufacturing."
Even though cell-based vaccines are deemed better, most companies have also invested billions in egg-based production lines, so they aren't eager to replace them.
Officials tried to get away from egg-based vaccines in 2005 and again in 2009, but "with the resources we have available, we get the best bang for our buck and best value to U.S. taxpayers when we leverage the seasonal infrastructure, and that's still mostly egg-based," said David Boucher, director of infectious disease preparedness at HHS' Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.
