The United States records the first death linked to bird flu in Louisiana Health News

The late patient was admitted to the hospital in December and was suffering from severe respiratory symptoms after coming into contact with infected birds.

The United States recorded its first death from bird flu after a 65-year-old patient He was taken to hospital He died on December 18.

The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) announced the news on Monday. The patient was the first person in the United States to be hospitalized as a result of infection with the virus known as H5N1.

“LDH’s extensive public health investigation has identified no additional cases of H5N1 and no evidence of human-to-human transmission. This patient remains the only human case of H5N1 in Louisiana,” the state agency said in a social media post. “The current public health risk remains low.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed. 66 human cases overall in the United States since April, although none as severe as the Louisiana case.

Authorities believe the patient, who had pre-existing illnesses, contracted bird flu through exposure to chickens and wild birds in the backyard.

Although the risk to humans remains minimal so far, Millions of birds Cattle were killed in an attempt to mediate the spread of the virus.

The CDC says most people who have contracted bird flu in recent months have been exposed to it through working with contaminated livestock and livestock.

An estimated 40 of the 66 cases have been linked to dairy herds, and another 23 cases have been traced to farms and culls.

“While the current public health risks to the general public remain low, people who work with birds, poultry or cattle, or who are exposed to them for recreational purposes, are at greater risk,” the association said in a statement.

ca Announce a Emergency Bird flu in mid-December after dairy cows in the western state tested positive for the virus. As of Monday, the C.D.C I mentioned 701 confirmed cases in California dairy cows, out of 917 total.

Many cases of bird flu among humans in the United States have been concentrated in California, which has a large agricultural sector. But no human-to-human transmission has been recorded. All but one case in the state has been linked to livestock.

The CDC announced in late December that genetic analysis of the Louisiana patient indicated that the virus had mutated within the patient, which may allow the virus to better bind to receptors in the upper airways in humans.

Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease researcher at the University of Minnesota, told the Associated Press news agency that the development is concerning, but not dangerous.

Is this an indication that we may be closer to seeing a virus that is easily transmitted between people? No, Osterholm said. “Right now, that’s the key in the lock, but it doesn’t open the door.”

The World Health Organization said in a public health assessment in December that the impact of infection globally remained “minimal.”