Wired Human cases keep ticking up, are very likely to be underreported, and offer the virus the opportunity to learn how to spread from person to person. Ongoing Outbreaks of avian influenza have decimated poultry flocks and wild birds across the United States and worldwide. The virus, known as H5N1, is also increasingly adapting to mammals and has been found in cats, goats, and raccoons. In the US, it has spread to at least 170 dairy herds across 13 states. And in April, health officials confirmed that a dairy worker had caught the virus from an infected cow. This was the first time the virus made the jump from a mammal to a human.
Now, the number of people becoming infected with bird flu is ticking upward. On July 25, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed an additional three human cases, bringing the total number of US cases to 13 since April. The infections occurred in people who were working directly with infected poultry at an egg farm in Colorado that had reported an outbreak of H5N1 among its birds. All three people have mild symptoms and have been offered Tamiflu, an antiviral drug. The CDC says the risk of H5N1 infection in the general public remains low.