Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Infection in a Dairy Farm Worker

nejm.org

40 points·perihelions··7 comments

> In late March 2024, an adult dairy farm worker had onset of redness and discomfort in the right eye. On presentation that day, subconjunctival hemorrhage and thin, serous drainage were noted in the right eye.

Is this a typical symptom of avian (of other animal) flu? Definitely scary... that example picture looked pretty brutal.

> that example picture looked pretty brutal

Thankfully, TFA: there was "no visual impairment", and "over the subsequent days, the worker reported resolution of conjunctivitis without respiratory symptoms, and household contacts remained well." So it just looked bad.

No visual impairment, but wouldn't it still feel bad? Like pinkeye on steroids.

Not that cats are particularly relevant to human infection, but cats seem to suffer blindness, neurological impairment and death.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04/concerning-spread-of...

Seems we're starting to pay a lot more attention to the spillover phenomena. Good.

My believe is that it's, and's ever been, very common we just didn't notice much. And the "oh shite" mode here is the tail end, which is rare but devastating... so yeah, paying more attention now, as opposed to say even 20 years ago, is even better than good.

We now have a chance to learn, and understand with due diligence.

This isn't spillover. The virus mutated so it can transmit between cows, and now dairy workers are able to catch that. With the risk being that it mutates again into a human to human form.

Spillover is you have sporadic cases caught *from birds* but transmission remains between birds.

Spillover transmission risk is high for farm workers, the CDC released new guidance last week.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5/worker-protection-ppe.ht...

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