CDC confirms first US case of great hen flu

United States has now seen dozens of cases of human avian flu this yearall candy – till now.

Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention confirmed Wednesday {that a} affected person in Louisiana was hospitalized with a extreme case of avian flu attributable to the H5N1 virus. That is the primary case of great sickness linked to the virus in the US.

The virus has decimated poultry flocks and wild birds throughout the nation and contaminated greater than 800 dairy herds in 16 states. Contaminated animals unfold the virus to individuals who come into contact with them. Since April, the US has skilled a complete of 61 human cases of bird flu reported in eight states. Of those, 37 had been uncovered to sick or contaminated dairy cows, whereas 21 had been uncovered to poultry farms and culling operations. In these instances, individuals developed conjunctivitis and gentle respiratory signs and made a full restoration.

A extreme case is vital as a result of hen flu has beforehand been related to critical sickness in different international locations, together with outbreaks leading to loss of life in as much as 50 p.c of instances. From 2003 to 2023, of the 878 individuals who examined optimistic for the virus, 458 deaths were reported.

An investigation by the Louisiana Division of Well being and the CDC decided that the hospitalized affected person, a southwest Louisiana resident, had been uncovered to sick and lifeless birds in yard flocks. That is the primary case of H5N1 avian influenza in the US linked to publicity to a yard flock, rather than a commercial farm.

“Whereas an investigation into the supply of this an infection in Louisiana is ongoing, it’s believed that the affected person reported by Louisiana was uncovered to sick or lifeless birds on their property,” stated Demeter Daskalakis, director of the Nationwide Middle CDC vaccination pointers. and respiratory illnesses, throughout a press briefing on Wednesday. No additional particulars had been out there on the supply of publicity or the affected person’s situation.

An individual with hen flu in Missouri was hospitalized in late August, however CDC officers say that was because of underlying medical points. The affected person didn’t have respiratory signs and was not significantly in poor health from his an infection. “Within the case of Missouri, we do not actually have the identical kind of knowledge that helps that this was associated to their influenza an infection,” Daskalakis stated.

There are genetic similarities between the virus from a Louisiana affected person and that of a Canadian teenager hospitalized with the H5N1 virus. Scientists labeled the virus in Louisiana as D1.1, the identical kind discovered within the Canadian affected person and one other case from Washington state. This variant has additionally been detected in wild birds and poultry in the US.

That is completely different from kind B3.13, which has been detected in dairy cows, in some poultry outbreaks, and in sporadic human instances in a number of states. CDC scientists are performing further genomic sequencing of the Louisiana affected person’s viral pattern. Genomic sequencing can determine probably regarding modifications within the virus that might sign an elevated skill to contaminate people or transmit from individual to individual.

No human-to-human unfold of H5N1 avian influenza has been detected. The CDC says the instant threat to public well being stays low, however those that are uncovered, at work or recreationally, to contaminated animals are at greater threat of contracting the virus. “Which means flock house owners, hunters and different hen fanatics also needs to take precautions,” the company stated in an announcement.