First severe bird flu case confirmed in US

A patient has been hospitalized with the first confirmed severe bird flu case in the US.

The case was confirmed on Friday and announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today.

No details on the patient, who is at a hospital in Louisiana, were immediately released.

‘While an investigation into the source of the infection in Louisiana is ongoing, it has been determined that the patient had exposure to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks,’ stated the CDC. 

It is the first H5N1 bird flu case in the US to be linked to backyard flocks.

‘This case underscores that, in addition to affected commercial poultry and dairy operations, wild birds and backyard flocks also can be a source of exposure,’ stated the agency.

Health officials are investigating the source of the disease.

The bird flu genotype of the patient’s case is different from the one detected in dairy cows and sporadic outbreaks in humans and poultry in several US states. The genotype found in the Louisiana patient was linked to recent human cases in Washington state and in British Columbia, Canada, and wild birds and poultry in the US.

Despite the case being classified as ‘severe’, it ‘does not change CDC’s overall assessment of the immediate risk to the public’s health from H5N1 bird flu, which remains low’, noted the agency.

The CDC advises the best way to prevent catching the bird flu is to avoid exposure. Infected birds shed the virus in their feces, saliva and mucous, while affected animals can also shed the virus through respiratory secretions and other bodily fluids like raw cow milk.

People who are in close or direct contact with wild birds, sick or dead ones or other animals should wear protective equipment and not touch surfaces with saliva, feces or mucous.

Bird flu symptoms include muscle and body aches, a sore throat, cough, stuffy or runny nose, fever, fatigue and shortness of breath.

There have been 61 reported H5 bird flu cases in humans in the US.

In April, the CDC released a map showing that the bird flu had spread all US states with the exceptions of Louisiana and Hawaii. The same advisory stated that the first-ever case of a human catching the bird flu from dairy cows had been reported in Texas.

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