Louisiana well being authorities on Monday reported the primary U.S. human loss of life linked to chicken flu, noting the affected person had preexisting 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 within the United States.
The announcement in mid-December of the affected person being in “critical condition” sparked alarm that the United States might see an outbreak of a potential chicken flu pandemic, with related circumstances reported worldwide.
“The patient contracted H5N1 after exposure to a combination of a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds,” the Louisiana Department of Health mentioned in an announcement.
Despite this loss of life, the general public well being threat posed by chicken 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 totally 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 chicken flocks has exploded, whereas a rising variety of mammal species have been affected.
Experts are involved {that a} excessive circulation of the virus in mammals might result in mutations that make it extra simply unfold amongst people.
Source: www.dailysabah.com