Officials call Missouri bird flu case 'unique', say risk to public remains low

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials said Thursday they don’t know how a person in Missouri got bird flu, but they believe it could be a rare case of a “one-off” standalone illness.

Investigators trying to determine how the person caught the virus have not been able to confirm the exact strain of the flu.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have said the risk to the general population remains low. The Missouri case has raised questions about the possibility of human-to-human transmission of bird flu, but officials have said there is no evidence that other people have been infected.

“At this point, the evidence indicates that this is an isolated case,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the CDC.

Unusual strains of flu that originate in animals are sometimes detected in humans. This year alone, health officials have identified seven human cases of swine flu in the United States, officials said. But this is the first time the surveillance system has detected avian flu of this type.

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H5N1 avian influenza is spreading widely among wild birds, poultry, cows and a growing number of other animals. Its increasing presence in the environment increases the risks of human exposure and potential contamination, Shah said.

Citing patient confidentiality, health officials have released few details about the Missouri case, which was first announced late last week.

The person was suffering from chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and weakness and was hospitalized on August 22 “for reasons related to his underlying health conditions,” Shah said.

The patient was tested for influenza as part of the treatment and tested positive for influenza A, a broad category of viruses. Subsequent testing, completed last week, revealed that the virus belonged to a category of viruses typically seen in birds and not humans. However, the patient had a very low concentration of viral genetic material, making it difficult for authorities to fully analyze it and confirm exactly which virus it was, Shah said.

“Ultimately, a full sequence may not be technically feasible,” Shah said.

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The patient had no known contact with dairy cows or other animals associated with the ongoing bird flu outbreak. The person later told Missouri health officials that he did not drink unpasteurized milk or dairy products, Shah said in a phone call with reporters Thursday.

The patient received antiviral treatment and has since recovered and returned home, health officials said.

As part of their investigation, authorities hope to take blood samples from people who were near the patient to see if they show signs of infection, Shah said.

The Missouri patient is the 14th person in the United States to contract bird flu since March, when the virus was detected in cows. Another person was infected in 2022. All of those cases were relatively mild illnesses, and each patient had direct contact with infected animals.

Officials call Missouri bird flu case ‘unique’, say risk to public remains low

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