First bird-flu infection of a human seen

DES MOINES, Iowa — A Colorado prison inmate has tested positive for bird flu in the first recent confirmed case of a human infected with the disease that has resulted in the deaths of millions of chickens and turkeys, but federal officials say they still see little threat to the general public.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday evening that the man who tested positive had been in a prerelease program and was helping remove chickens from an infected farm. The man reported fatigue for a few days but recovered, state health and CDC officials said.

The man was isolated and continues being treated with an antiviral drug. Other people involved in the bird removal operation in Colorado have tested negative, but they are being retested out of an abundance of caution.

“The inmate was part of a prison work crew composed of inmates nearing release which had been working at the farm before a case of bird flu was confirmed there on April 19,” said Lisa Wiley, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Despite the infection, the CDC considers the threat to the general public to be low because spread of the virus to people requires close contact with an infected bird.

Signals that could raise the public health risk might include multiple reports of infections in people from exposure to birds, or identification of spread from one infected person to a close contact. The CDC also is monitoring the virus for genetic changes, which could indicate the virus is adapting to spread more readily.