ALBAWABA- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Wednesday the first severe human case of bird flu in the United States, involving a patient in Louisiana who was hospitalized after handling infected and dead birds in their backyard.
This case brings the total number of recorded bird flu infections in the current outbreak across the U.S. to 61. However, the CDC noted that all previous cases were mild.
In an earlier report on September 7, the CDC identified another human infection in Missouri involving the H5 strain of bird flu. This marked the first known case in the U.S. where a person had no prior contact with infected animals.
"This is the 14th confirmed human case of H5 bird flu in 2024," the CDC stated in a release shared by CNN, noting that this is the first severe infection without any direct exposure to sick or infected animals.
The Missouri patient, hospitalized on August 22, tested positive for the influenza A virus, which can infect both birds and mammals. The individual has since been treated and is recovering at home.
Currently, there are no reported cases of bird flu in livestock in Missouri, though outbreaks among poultry have been confirmed in the state, according to CNN.
The CDC has assessed the risk of the virus spreading among the general population as low. However, experts have expressed concern about the increasing number of mammals infected with the H5N1 strain, raising fears of potential human-to-human transmission.
A report released in June warned that the rise in infections among mammals, including livestock across the U.S., highlights global unpreparedness for future pandemics. It urged world leaders to take urgent action to prevent a repeat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and co-author of the report, warned during a press conference: "If the virus begins spreading from person to person, the world will likely be unprepared to handle it."
