An American has been hospitalized with a severe case of bird flu, in the first case of severe illness from the virus in the country.
The H5N1 patient is in Louisiana, and investigators said they likely caught the disease after handling sick and dead birds in a backyard poultry flock.
No further details on their symptoms have been revealed, except that they are ‘severely ill’ with the virus.
And it is not thought that the patient passed on their infection to others.
The CDC sent out an alert over the case and said the patient was infected with the H5N1 strain called D1.1 — linked to wild birds and poultry — which differs from that causing a disease outbreak in cattle.
The strain also hospitalized a ‘healthy’ teenager in Canada early last month, who was left in a critical condition and required help breathing.
Officials described the case as ‘sporadic’ today, and said that a severe case of the disease in humans was ‘not unexpected’.
It does not change the overall assessment that the risk to the public from bird flu is still ‘low’, the CDC said.
A worker in a hazmat suit is pictured spraying a truck in a quarantine zone after an outbreak of bird flu (stock image)
Since April 2024, a total of 61 people have been diagnosed with H5N1 in the US — but mostly with mild symptoms such as ‘pink eye’.
One other patient has previously been hospitalized, a patient in Missouri who was reported to have underlying symptoms.
There have been no reports of deaths due to a bird flu infection this year.
Most of the infections have been linked to exposure to dairy herds, which are currently experiencing an outbreak of the virus with 845 herds infected in 16 states, although some have been linked to wild birds
This marks the first case of H5N1 bird flu in the US to be linked to a backyard poultry flock.
The CDC said in the alert: ‘A sporadic case of severe H5N1 bird flu illness in a person is not unexpected.
‘Avian influenza virus infection has previously been associated with severe human illness in other countries during 2024 and prior years, including illness resulting in death.’
They added: ‘No person-to-person spread of H5 bird flu has been detected. This case does not change CDC’s overall assessment of the immediate risk to the public’s health from H5N1 bird flu, which remains low.’
The above
The hospitalized Louisiana patient was first revealed by the state’s health department on Monday, which said they were in the southwest of the state and that samples had been sent to the CDC for testing.
The CDC said the H5N1 infection was confirmed by its testing on Friday last week, and that partial viral DNA analysis revealed the patient had the D1.1 variant.
It also said the case underscored the need to take precautions when around backyard flocks and cattle to limit the risk of infection.
In its alert, they urged people to avoid contact with sick or dead animals, particularly wild birds and poultry, whenever possible.
They also said those with direct contacts with the birds to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and to avoid touching surfaces — like animal litter or bedding — that may have come into contact with infected animals.
In Canada, the teenager sickened with the same type of bird flu was hospitalized on November 8 after falling ill on November 2.
As of the last report in late November, the teenager was still in the hospital and in a critical condition — requiring help to breathe — but was stable.
It was not clear how they caught the disease, with dogs and reptiles they had come into contact with all testing negative.
Since their infection in September, the Missouri patient has been discharged.