Texas person is diagnosed with bird flu after being in contact with cows

ATLANTA (AP) — A person in Texas has been diagnosed with bird flu, an infection tied to the recent discovery of the virus in dairy cows, health officials said Monday.

The patient is being treated with an antiviral drug and their only reported symptom was eye redness, Texas health officials said. Health officials say the person had been contact with cows presumed to be infected, and the risk to the public remains low.

Last week, dairy cows in Texas and Kansas were reported to be infected with bird flu — and federal agriculture officials later confirmed infections in a Michigan dairy herd that had recently received cows from Texas.

The virus has been found in hundreds of mammal species globally in recent years.