First man to catch bird flu from cow bled eyeballs as virus ‘shows pandemic potential’

The first photograph of a Texas farmworker who caught bird flu has been released, showing the man with bleeding from his eyeballs.

The alarming case is believed to be the first case of mammal-to-human transmission and has raised concerns as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that H5N1 viruses “present pandemic potential.”

The affected dairy worker sought medical attention in March due to severe redness and watering in the eyes accompanied by burst blood vessels.

Despite the eye symptoms, he did not have a fever and his lungs appeared normal on examination, as detailed in a New England Journal of Medicine letter published Friday. The post included the image of the man’s condition, medically called conjunctivitis with subconjunctival hemorrhage.

He reported no contact with sick or deceased birds, but had numerous direct interactions with dairy cows in an area where herds were known to be infected. Eye swabs revealed a significant amount of the H5N1 virus, although minimal traces were found in his lungs.

Researchers are now wondering whether the infection could have occurred through the eyes, possibly through eye-hand contact with the virus or exposure to contaminated liquids like milk, reports US Express.

In a recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine, CDC epidemiologists revealed that they could not investigate the farm linked to an infection because they were denied access, hampering research into how the workers could have been exposed.

Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, explained that the infected dairy worker “did not disclose the name of their workplace” when tested at a field office.

The report also said the worker did not use protective goggles or a face mask, which could have prevented infection.

A new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture released Thursday indicates that avian flu was present in cows for about four months before being confirmed in the laboratory in late March.

Subsequently, at least 36 dairy cow herds across nine US states were affected by the infection, with cases reported in Idaho, South Dakota, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, Michigan, Ohio and North Carolina.

Despite the discovery of traces of the virus in milk samples from grocery stores, the Food and Drug Administration assures that pasteurized milk is safe to consume.

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