The US reports the first bird flu-related human death

INN/USA, @Infodeaofficial

The United States’ first bird flu-related fatality was confirmed by Louisiana health officials on Monday. They noted that the patient had preexisting medical issues and that the public’s overall risks were still “low.” Since at least mid-December, when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared it to be the nation’s first significant instance of human infection from the H5N1 virus, the patient, who was over 65, had been admitted to the hospital in the southern state.

In a statement announcing the death, the Louisiana Department of Health stated that “people who work with birds, poultry, or cows, or have recreational exposure to them, are at higher risk, even though the current public health risk for the general public remains low.” Although it stated that the patient had “contracted H5N1 after exposure to a combination of a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds,” it found no evidence of person-to-person transmission or additional H5N1 infections in the state.

Amid considerable criticism of President Joe Biden’s administration for its handling of the long-simmering problem, the news was released just days after the federal government approved an additional $306 million to support H5N1 research and monitoring initiatives. Scientists are concerned that the amount of bird flu that is circulating among humans and animals could change into a more contagious form, which could lead to a fatal pandemic. According to the CDC, there have been 66 human cases of bird flu in the US since the start of 2024.

“We have a lot of data that shows that this virus can be lethal, more lethal than many viruses we worry about,” Jennifer Nuzzo, a Brown University epidemiology professor, told AFP. “For that reason, people have been quite alarmed about these outbreaks that have been occurring on farms and other places in the US and have really been shouting for the US government to do more,” she stated.

The genetic sequencing of the H5N1 virus from the Louisiana patient differed from the variant seen in numerous dairy herds across the US, the CDC announced in December. Additionally, a little portion of the virus in the patient revealed genetic alterations that indicated it might have changed inside to fit the human respiratory system. According to researchers AFP spoke with, these alterations are not the only factor that could increase the virus’s contagiousness or transmissibility between people.

Although H5N1 was initially discovered in 1996, outbreaks among bird flocks have skyrocketed since 2020, and an increasing number of animal species have also been impacted. “While tragic, a death from H5N1 bird flu in the United States is not unexpected because of the known potential for infection with these viruses to cause severe illness and death,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated. Since 2003, the World Health Organization has documented more than 950 human cases of bird flu in 24 countries, with a significant proportion occurring in China and Vietnam.