CDC Confirms 3rd Human Case of H5 Bird Flu in California

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed a third human case of H5 bird flu in California. Like the two cases in that state confirmed last week, the person reported occupational exposure to infected dairy cows. To date, all three California cases occurred in dairy workers from three different affected farms with no known contact with each other, suggesting animal-to-human spread. Also consistent with the two previous California cases, the person experienced mild symptoms, including eye redness or discharge (conjunctivitis). None of the three cases has been hospitalized. The identification of H5 in people with exposure to infected animals is not unexpected and does not change CDC's risk assessment for the general public, which continues to be low.

Including this most recent case, 18 human cases of H5 bird flu have now been reported in the United States since 2022; 17 cases during 2024. CDC is awaiting 2 additional presumptive positive specimens from California for confirmatory testing.