A Louisiana affected person who had been hospitalized with extreme hen flu has died, the primary such fatality in america, state well being officers reported on Monday.
The affected person was older than 65 and had underlying medical circumstances, the officers mentioned. The person grew to become contaminated with the hen flu virus, H5N1, after publicity to a yard flock and wild birds.
There isn’t any signal that the virus is spreading from individual to individual wherever within the nation, and Louisiana officers haven’t recognized every other instances within the state. Pasteurized dairy merchandise stay protected to eat.
“I nonetheless suppose the chance stays low,” mentioned Dr. Diego Diel, a virologist at Cornell College.
“Nevertheless, it is crucial that individuals stay vigilant and keep away from contact with sick animals, sick poultry, sick dairy cattle, and in addition keep away from contact with wild birds,” he added.
The information comes on the heels of a report that the affected person had carried mutations which may assist the virus infect individuals extra simply.
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention mentioned late final month that the mutations weren’t current in virus samples taken from the yard flock, suggesting that they developed within the affected person because the sickness progressed.
One of many mutations was additionally current in virus sampled from a 13-year-old Canadian woman who was hospitalized and required respiratory assist. She has since recovered.
Each sufferers carried a model of the virus that’s circulating in wild birds, distinct from the one inflicting the outbreak in dairy cattle.
Though these are remoted instances, the 2 collectively level to the potential for the virus to morph into harmful new types, specialists have mentioned.
The information “ought to remind us that H5N1 influenza has been and continues to be a harmful virus,” mentioned Dr. James Lawler, a director of the College of Nebraska’s World Heart for Well being Safety.
“The extra extensively the virus circulates, notably infections in people and different mammals, the upper the chance that the virus will purchase mutations that adapt the virus for human illness and transmission,” he mentioned. “This places us all in danger.”
That threat is especially heightened because the nation confronts a extreme flu season.
A person who’s concurrently contaminated with each the hen flu virus and the seasonal flu may present H5N1 ample alternative to accumulate the mutations it must unfold effectively amongst individuals.
H5N1 has been circulating in wild birds for a number of years and in dairy cattle for a couple of yr. The outbreak has proven no indicators of abating, affecting greater than 900 herds in 16 states. The virus has additionally unfold from dairy farms to poultry farms, and stays widespread in wild birds.
In December, California, the state hit hardest by the outbreak in cattle, declared a public well being emergency.
At the least 66 individuals have been contaminated by the virus in america this yr, in response to the C.D.C. Almost the entire instances have been in individuals who labored on farms with contaminated cows or poultry.
Most individuals have had gentle signs, usually conjunctivitis, or pink eye, and respiratory signs. Globally, there have been about 500 deaths reported prior to now 20 years, most of them in Southeast Asia.
The Louisiana affected person was reported to have been hospitalized final month. However state officers have declined to launch additional particulars, citing affected person confidentiality.
Earlier than final yr, only one human H5N1 an infection — in a poultry employee in Colorado in 2022 — had been reported in america.
Consultants have warned towards consuming uncooked milk, which can comprise excessive ranges of the virus. No human instances have but been linked to uncooked milk, however cats in a number of states have died after consuming virus-laden milk.