Officials announced Friday that a person in Missouri became the first person in the U.S. to test positive for bird flu despite having no history of contact with infected animals.
According to a statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Missouri Department of Health and Human Services, the adult patient with underlying health conditions was hospitalized on August 22, was given an antiviral drug for influenza, and has since recovered and been released from the hospital.
Initial testing identified the type of influenza the patient had as suspicious, which led to additional testing at state and federal laboratories, which determined it was H5, also known as avian influenza.
The CDC said there have been no confirmed cases among the patient’s close contacts or other people.
Scientists have expressed concern that bird flu is infecting an increasing number of mammals, even though human cases remain rare.
They worry that high infection rates could encourage the virus to mutate and spread from person to person.
“We are pleased that the national disease surveillance system identified this case, that the patient received antiviral treatment and that no new cases have been detected among his close contacts,” the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday in a statement to AFP.
“It is important that investigations into the cases continue, in line with the guidance of national and state authorities, to inform further prevention and response activities,” said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director of communicable diseases and pandemic preparedness and prevention.
“WHO strongly supports U.S. efforts to monitor zoonotic influenza across human, environmental and animal sectors,” Van Kerkhove continued.
“It is important to understand the prevalence of avian influenza in poultry, wild birds and other animals in the state,” she said of Missouri.
“Strengthening animal disease surveillance is essential to protect animal and human health.”
No contact with animals
This is the 14th person to test positive for bird flu in the United States this year and the first with no known contact with animals.
In fact, “there have been no reported cases of H5 infection in dairy cows in Missouri,” according to the Missouri Department of Health, but “there have been several reported cases of H5 infection in commercially and domestically raised chickens and wild birds.”
All of the bird flu cases in the United States so far, including the first case of 2022, have occurred among agricultural workers.
Avian flu is most commonly found in wild birds and poultry but has recently been detected in mammals, with outbreaks in cattle across the country this year.
Rarely, it can be transmitted to humans through close contact or contaminated environments.
The CDC continues to assess the risk to the general public as low, but said the situation “can change rapidly as more information becomes available.”
Although H5 has been identified in humans for decades, there are rare cases where the animal origin cannot be identified.
However, so far there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission, which would significantly increase the threat level.
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