The Texas dairy farm worker infected with H5N1 bird flu was not wearing respiratory or eye protection and had been exposed to cattle that appeared to have the same symptoms as those in a nearby farm with a confirmed outbreak of the virus, according to new details on the case released on Friday.
The details, reported online in the New England Journal of Medicine, underscore the risk to farm workers in the ongoing outbreak among U.S. dairy cattle and the need to wear protective gear to avoid infection.
The outbreak - the first in cattle - is so far known to have infected 36 dairy herds in nine states.
Infection by the bird virus is rare in humans, and the dairy worker's case, first reported in March, represents only the second known human infection in the United States.
