CDC confirms first “severe” case of H5N1 bird flu in the United States

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the first “severe” case of H5N1 bird flu in the United States, according to a news release published Wednesday. The good news? The person who contracted the virus appears to have gotten it from backyard poultry, meaning they did not acquire it through human-to-human transmission, which has long been feared to be something that could fuel mutations and new epidemics in humans. Bad news? Cases of bird flu among humans continue to rise, as the man who mismanaged America’s last pandemic is about to seize power again.

The serious case announced by the CDC on Wednesday was first confirmed on December 13 after tests came back for a patient in Louisiana, the agency said in a statement. press release. The virus in this case has been identified as genotype D1.1, which is related to other D1.1 cases found in humans from Washington state and British Columbia, Canada. This genotype differs from the B3.13 genotype that has been detected in dairy cows throughout the United States and which has been the dominant mode of human infection. California, which has the highest number of known infections among dairy herds in the country with 645 cases, declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.

Cases of D1.1 in humans have come from birds, although the new case in Louisiana is the first acquired from a backyard flock. Most human cases have come from farm workers exposed to commercial poultry. There was also a case in Missouri and a case in California where the route of infection was not determined because they were not exposed to farm animals. recently Wastewater detection The spread of bird flu in several states such as Florida, Maine, and New Jersey was also puzzling because there were no known cases of infected birds or livestock in those states.

The CDC’s announcement Wednesday did not include any biographical information about the case in Louisiana and The Washington Post Reports CDC officials refused to provide even basic information about the timeline of how this person became infected or their symptoms. The only information shared in this regard is that they have symptoms consistent with influenza.

The CDC launched a Track bird flu online It breaks down confirmed cases in humans, as well as the US states in which they were identified, and the animal believed to have been the source of the infection. There are a total of 61 confirmed cases in eight states, although suspected cases are not included. Delaware, for example, currently has Suspected case This has not been confirmed by testing yet. If this case is confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Delaware will become the ninth state to see human cases of bird flu during this outbreak. Delaware also saw the virus detected in wastewater recently.

There have been no known human cases of bird flu in the United States through consumption of milk or beef, but this possibility has become a concern recently. Pasteurization kills bird flu in milk, but a recent study shows the virus can survive Five days in raw milk. Incoming President Donald Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a staunch advocate of raw milk, to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Cats seen drinking raw milk recently in California are dead and Los Angeles health officials believe they are dead Suffered from bird flu.

Even as this new serious case of bird flu emerges in Louisiana, the CDC remains steadfast in its belief that the threat to the general U.S. population remains low.

“A sporadic case of severe H5N1 avian influenza disease in a person is not unexpected; avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infection has previously been associated with severe human illness in other countries during 2024 and years,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. Previous history, including illness that led to death.

The statement continued: “No person-to-person transmission of H5 avian influenza has been detected.” “This case does not change the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s overall assessment of the immediate public health risks from H5N1 avian influenza, which remains low.”