The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that a person in Louisiana was hospitalized with avian flu, the nation’s first serious human H5N1 illness.
This would be the first time a backyard flock has been linked to a bird flu infection in a U.S. citizen, the government said, adding that the individual was most likely exposed to the virus from the flock.
During a briefing on Wednesday, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, stated that although an investigation is still underway to determine the origin of this infection in Louisiana, it is thought that the patient who was reported by Louisiana had contact with sick or dead birds on their property.
Louisiana reported the case as a suspected positive on Friday, and CDC laboratory testing later confirmed it.
The Louisiana Department of Health, according to Daskalakis, is investigating, keeping an eye on the patient’s contacts for exposure, and providing tests and antiviral medicine as required.
In order to better understand whether the virus has evolved any alarming alterations that could enable it to transmit from person to person, he continued, the CDC is seeking to better define the virus’ genome. No human-to-human transmission has been reported to yet.
According to preliminary evidence in the Louisiana patient’s case, the virus that is causing the infection is comparable to the strain that has been circulating in wild birds and poultry in Washington State and British Columbia, Canada.
In November, a youngster in British Columbia was admitted to the hospital after catching the same bird flu virus genotype. The source of the teen’s sickness was not identified by Canadian health officials.
This year, the United States has recorded 61 human cases of avian influenza. Farmworkers exposed to the virus through animal contact have been the source of the majority of mild cases.
The CDC stated that the revelation has no bearing on its evaluation of the immediate public health danger posed by H5N1, which it maintains is “low.”
In 2022, H5N1 started to spread significantly among wild birds in the United States before moving on to backyard flocks and poultry farms. The CDC estimates that since 2022, the virus has killed or euthanized at least 123 million birds.
Since avian flu started to spread among dairy cows this spring, the virus has been found in animals in at least 16 states.
The virus can travel effectively between mammals, according to research on dairy farms. Because sick cows release a lot of the virus through their mammary glands, experts have concluded that raw milk is probably how the virus passes between farm animals.
Farmworkers who have come into contact with diseased animals or poultry have been involved in the majority of the 61 documented human cases of bird flu. Common symptoms in past occurrences have included sneezing, coughing, and pinkeye.
Although there is no evidence of the virus spreading between humans yet, scientists are concerned that it could mutate and develop that ability, which could touch off the next pandemic.
To date, there have been two instances in the United States when health officials were unable to identify the source of an individual’s bird flu exposure. One was a case that was reported in November involving a child from California. The other included a hospitalized patient in Missouri who recovered after testing positive for H5N1 in August.
Daskalakis said the CDC considers the Louisiana case the first severe H5N1 infection because other conditions likely caused the hospitalization of the Missouri patient.
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