A fourth farm worker has been infected with bird flu in the growing outbreak linked to dairy cows, health officials reported Wednesday.
The worker had direct contact with infected dairy cows on a northeast Colorado farm, state and federal health officials said. The man developed pink eye, or conjunctivitis, received antiviral treatment and has recovered.
Three previous cases of human infection linked to cows have been reported in dairy workers in Texas and Michigan since March. Two of those workers also developed pink eye, while one had mild respiratory symptoms, In 2022, the first U.S. case of bird flu was detected in a Colorado farm worker exposed to infected poultry.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the new infection “does not change” the agency's assessment that the risk to the general public remains low. Surveillance systems tracking flu in the U.S. have shown no unusual activity, officials said. However, people with prolonged contact with to infected birds or other animals, including livestock, or to their environments, are at higher risk of infection.
The Colorado man was being monitored when he developed symptoms because of his work with dairy cows, according to the CDC. Tests at the state level were inconclusive, but samples sent to CDC tested positive. Full results of genetic analysis of the sample are pending.
As of Wednesday, more than 135 dairy herds in a dozen states had reported infections with the H5N1 virus that originated in poultry, according to the Agriculture Department.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
FILE - Dairy cattle feed at a farm in New Mexico on March 31, 2017. A fourth dairy worker in the U.S. has been infected with bird flu. On Wednesday, July 3, 2024, U.S. health officials said a fourth dairy worker has been infected with bird flu in the outbreak linked to U.S. dairy cows. The man, who worked on a Colorado farm where dairy cows tested positive for the virus, developed conjunctivitis or pink eye, Colorado health officials said. The worker received antiviral treatment and has recovered. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer has appointed a Cabinet of Labour Party lawmakers and a few outside experts as he tries to tackle priorities including boosting a sluggish economy, building more homes and fixing the creaking state-funded health service. Labour has spent 14 years in opposition, so few have held government office before.
Here’s who is in the new government:
Prime Minister: Keir Starmer
Deputy Prime Minister and Levelling Up Secretary: Angela Rayner
Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister): Rachel Reeves
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (a senior minister without folio): Pat McFadden
Foreign Secretary: David Lammy
Home Secretary: Yvette Cooper
Defense Secretary: John Healy
Justice Secretary: Shabana Mahmood
Health Secretary: Wes Streeting
Education Secretary: Bridget Phillipson
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary: Ed Miliband
Work and Pensions Secretary: Liz Kendall
Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds
Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary: Peter Kyle
Transport Secretary: Louise Haigh
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary: Steve Reed
Culture, Media and Sport Secretary: Lisa Nandy
Northern Ireland Secretary: Hilary
Scottish Secretary: Ian Murray
Welsh Secretary: Jo Stevens
Leader of the House of Commons: Lucy Powell
Leader of the House of Lords: Angela Smith
Chief Whip: Alan Campbell
Chief Secretary to the Treasury: Darren Jones
Attorney General: Richard Hermer
More junior appointments include Science Minister Patrick Vallance, who was the government’s chief scientific officer during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Prisons Minister James Timpson, a businessman whose chain of key-cutting and shoe-repair businesses works with ex-offenders.
Incoming Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting arrives at Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory, but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
Incoming Secretary of State for the Home Department Yvette Cooper leaves Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory, but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
Incoming Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy leaves Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory, but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
Incoming Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Angela Rayner leaves 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory, but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
Incoming Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves leaves Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory, but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
Britain's Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria pose for the media on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Labour leader Starmer won the general election on July 4, and was appointed Prime Minster by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, after the party won a landslide victory. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Larry the Cat, Britain's mouse-catcher in chief and long time resident at the the British Prime Minister's official residence, waits to be allowed inside at the door of 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory — but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)