Low risk of H5N1 spreading between people: CDC

STORY: Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC told Reuters "It's important to remember that individuals who are interacting with livestock or other animals that have avian influenza, really it's important to connect to public health and medical care to make sure that you're being observed. But again, for most people, if you're not exposed to these animals, the risk is is very, very low."

The Texas case is only the second time bird flu has been confirmed in a human in the United States, with the first occurring in 2022 in Colorado in a person exposed to infected poultry. In both cases, the infections were mild.

The Texas farm worker's only symptom was conjunctivitis, or pink eye. He is being treated with Tamiflu, which is used to treat human influenza.

The infections are from the same subtype of bird flu that has been infecting wild birds and poultry flocks globally for more than two years, also killing several mammal species that likely contracted the virus from consuming sick or dead birds.