Two dairy workers in California have been confirmed to be infected with bird flu, marking the 15th and 16th human cases reported this year in an ongoing outbreak affecting the nation's dairy cows. The cases were detected in workers who had direct contact with infected cattle in California's Central Valley, where over 50 herds have been impacted since August. The affected workers exhibited symptoms such as conjunctivitis and experienced mild illness.
Health officials in California have stated that the infected workers were employed at different farms, with no apparent connection between the two cases. This suggests that the transmission likely occurred through animal contact rather than human-to-human spread. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the positive test results, marking the first cases of bird flu in California. CDC officials emphasized that new cases of bird flu in individuals exposed to infected animals are not unexpected and reassured that the risk to the general public remains low.
