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Excerpt from www.thefencepost.com
After the Michigan state government announced Wednesday that a dairy farmworker had been diagnosed with bird flu, Biden administration officials told reporters that the risk to humans is still low, but that efforts to monitor for bird flu and to curb it are increasing.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced that a case of influenza A (H5) virus was identified in a Michigan farmworker who had regular exposure to livestock infected with influenza A (H5).
The only other case this year was in Texas.
A Health and Human Services Department official said the discovery of the case was an example of “public health in action” because the worker was already being monitored.
The HHS official said the situation around bird flu “is quickly evolving,” but that the risk to humans is still low. A Food and Drug Administration official said the milk supply is still safe.
Eric Deeble, a USDA official, said that USDA is providing additional tools to keep cow herds healthy, including biosecurity support and paying producers for veterinary costs associated with tests. USDA is working on a way to use the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish program to pay farmers for the losses due to milk that has not been produced, Deeble said.
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