The primary human demise linked to hen flu has been reported in the USA, well being authorities in Louisiana introduced Monday, whereas noting the affected person had underlying medical situations.
The affected person, aged over 65, had been hospitalized for a respiratory ailment, and was the primary critical case of human an infection of the H5N1 virus to be detected in the USA.
The announcement in mid-December of the affected person being in “critical condition” sparked alarm that the USA may see an outbreak of a attainable hen flu pandemic, with comparable circumstances reported worldwide.
“The patient contracted H5N1 after exposure to a combination of a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds,” the Louisiana Division of Well being mentioned in a press release.
Regardless of this demise, the general public well being threat posed by hen flu stays “low,” the assertion mentioned, including that it had detected no human-to-human transmission.
“While the current public health risk for the general public remains low, people who work with birds, poultry or cows, or have recreational exposure to them, are at higher risk,” it warned.
Genetic sequencing has proven that the H5N1 virus that contaminated the Louisiana affected person was completely different from the model of the virus detected in lots of dairy herds and poultry farms across the nation.
H5N1 was first detected in 1996, however since 2020, the variety of outbreaks amongst hen flocks has exploded, whereas a rising variety of mammal species have been affected.
Consultants are involved {that a} excessive circulation of the virus in mammals may result in mutations that make it extra simply unfold amongst people.
