December 18, 2024
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The US has its first case of severe bird flu, the CDC confirmed in an H5N1 update
Louisiana reports one person hospitalized with severe case of H5N1 and USDA begins testing bulk milk
A person in Louisiana has been hospitalized with severe H5N1 influenza after contact with sick backyard birds. The virus is similar to that found in wild birds and some birds.
The outbreak of bird flu that is happening in the USA has been a little more worrying: a person in Louisiana has been hospitalized. A severe case of infection with H5N1 avian influenza virus In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in a statement issued on Wednesday. The governor of California also a emergency situation bird flu for Wednesday, as a precaution.
A 61 in total Human cases of H5N1 have been confirmed in the US this year. Most have occurred in dairy or poultry workers, and most have been mild. The latest case in Louisiana, he initially reported The Louisiana Department of Health reported last Friday that it is the first case of a person hospitalized with H5N1 infection in the United States this year. An investigation is ongoing, but it appears that the person involved had contact with sick or dead birds from a rear flock. The viral strain is different from what is currently circulating in dairy cows. Preliminary genetic sequencing revealed that it is likely related to the D1.1 strain circulating in poultry and wild birds in the US and human case in Canada.
In addition to the Louisiana case, Delaware recently announced a A possible case of H5N1 It was detected by routine state influenza surveillance. The infected person had no contact with sick animals. The CDC was unable to confirm the type of influenza A virus after multiple tests and has classified it as a “probable case.” There have been at least two previous cases without known exposure.
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“These two cases do not change CDC’s current risk assessment for the general population, which remains low,” Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday. However, “the large number of animals—birds and mammals—infected with H5 avian influenza increases the risk that the virus will infect people and adapt to cause human-to-human spread.”
H5N1 continues to infect dairy cattle at least 16 statesOn December 6, the US Department of Agriculture launched a new federal order. testing raw bulk milk from dairy cows The petition will begin in 13 states: California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New York State, Ohio, Vermont, and Washington.* More states will be added as resources allow, Eric. Deeble, USDA’s assistant secretary for marketing and regulatory programs, told reporters Wednesday. Several field trials for H5N1 cattle vaccines are underway at locations across the country, he added.
Also this week the company Labcorp announced that it will now offer a human H5 bird flu test that doctors can prescribe.
*Editor’s Note (12/24/19): This sentence has been updated with the latest states participating in the USDA’s bulk milk testing program.
