In March a farm worker who reported no contact with sick or dead birds, but who was in contact with dairy cattle, began showing symptoms in the eye and samples were collected by the regional health department to test for potential influenza A. Experts have now confirmed the first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza transmission from a mammal (dairy cow) to a human.
There have been almost 1000 confirmed H5N1 cases in humans over the past 20 years, and over that time it’s infected many different mammals. What’s different this time is the virulent cattle-to-cattle transmission happening in the US. A human catching it from close contact with an infected animal is not unusual