Should you be worried about the bird flu? What experts say after Texas dairy worker's infection

The recent bird flu infection in a dairy worker in Texas has public health officials on high alert, though experts say the virus doesn’t appear to be more contagious.

The recent bird flu infection in a dairy worker in Texas has public health officials on high alert, though experts say the virus hasn't become more contagious, either among cows or people.

Samples taken from the patient — whose only symptom was pinkeye — showed that the virus has not changed in ways that would make it easy for it to spread from human to human, and that currently available vaccines and medicines remain effective against it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Our assessment of the risk of avian flu to the general public right now remains low,” Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the CDC, said in an interview Wednesday. “However, make no mistake, we are taking this very seriously.” 

Upon learning from the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week that cows in a handful of dairy farms had tested positive for bird flu, the CDC contacted state health departments, asking them to work with farms to identify any person who may be showing symptoms.

“The case that we found in Texas, we found it because we went to look for it. We knew to look for it,” Shah said. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/bird-flu-infection-risk-texas-what-experts-say-rcna146210

---