US Authorities announced on Friday that a person in the State of Missouri has become the first person to test positive for bird flu without having any known contact with an infected animal.
According to statements from the Centers for Control and Disease Prevention and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the adult patient, who has underlying conditions, was admitted to the hospital on August 22, received antiviral medications against influenza, recovered, and was then discharged.
The patient was sent for extra testing in state and federal laboratories after an initial test suggested that their flu type seemed unusual. The results showed that the patient had H5, also known as avian flu or bird flu. This year, the patient was the 14th in the US to test positive for bird flu, and the first without any known animal contact.
According to the Missouri health agency, “no H5 infection in dairy cattle has been reported in Missouri,” although “some H5 cases in commercial or backyard flocks and wild birds have been reported.”
Farmworkers have been the victims of bird flu in the US in every case that has occurred before, including the first one in 2022. Although it is most frequently seen in wild birds and poultry, animal cases of bird flu have been reported recently, with this year’s nationwide cattle outbreak being one example. On rare occasions, it can spread to people through polluted environments or close contact.
Even though the CDC still believes there is little risk to the general public, it noted that “circumstances may change quickly as more information is learned.”
Though there have been a few isolated instances in the decades before H5 was discovered in humans in which an animal source could not be determined, there has not been any proof of ongoing human-to-human transmission, which would greatly raise the threat level.