A third farmworker has tested positive for bird flu in California, according to the state’s health department. If confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this would be the 17th human case of H5N1 flu in the US since March,

The California Department of Public Health is tracking a possible case of human bird flu originating in the Central Valley.

Two dairy workers in California were infected with bird flu, the 15th and 16th human cases detected in the U.S. this year.

Based on genetic information of the virus, officials say it appears migratory waterfowl initially introduced H5N1 bird flu to dairy cows in late winter of 2023 in a single, isolated event. But genomic experts say wild birds are not continuing to spread the disease in cattle.

Two dairy workers in California have been infected with the state’s first human cases of bird flu, federal and state health officials said. The late Thursday announcement of two confirmed

California, the biggest U.S. milk-producing state, on Thursday confirmed two human cases of bird flu in people who had contact with dairy cattle infected by the virus.

State officials say a dairy worker in the Central Valley likely contracted H5N1 bird flu. They say the risk of infection remains low for the general population.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Thursday afternoon that it had confirmed two human cases of H5 bird flu in California. The health agency said the two cases were separate and that they occurred in people who work in areas where they were exposed to infected dairy cows.

A routine flu screening in late summer found the H5N1 virus in a Missouri patient. Unlike the other reported cases of avian flu, this person did not report being in recent contact with animals.

California health officials said Thursday they are investigating a possible case of H5N1 avian flu in a person who had contact with infected dairy cattle in the Central Valley. If confirmed, it would be the first human case of bird flu in the state and the 15th in the country since the current outbreak began in 2022.