(NEWSnet/AP) - Another Michigan dairy worker has been diagnosed with bird flu, the third human case associated with an outbreak in U.S. dairy cows, health officials said Thursday.

This person developed respiratory symptoms, unlike the two workers, who had only mild eye symptoms, health officials said. The farmworker was quickly provided antivirals and is recovering from respiratory symptoms, Michigan health officials said.

The risk to the public remains low, although farmworkers exposed to infected animals are at higher risk, health officials said.

The Michigan cases of what is officially tracked as Type A H5N1 virus occurred on different farms and there are no signs of spread among people, officials said.

Neither of the Michigan workers was wearing face shield or other personal protective equipment, which “tells us that direct exposure to infected livestock poses a risk to humans, and that PPE is an important tool in preventing spread among individuals who work on dairy and poultry farms,” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the chief medical executive of Michigan’s health department, said in a statement.

In late March, a farmworker in Texas was diagnosed in what officials called the first known instance globally of a person catching this version of bird flu from a mammal. And last week, Michigan officials announced their first case.

Since 2020, a bird flu virus has been spreading among more animal species — including dogs, cats, skunks, bears and even seals and porpoises — in scores of countries.

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