The CDC has provided an update on the first human case of bird flu in the US with no known animal exposure.
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By Adam Chapman
Published: 19/09/2024 – 11:44
The Missouri case has raised concerns that HN51 is spreading between humans
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has provided a major update on the first human case of bird flu in the US with no known animal exposure.
HN51 has spread like wildfire in dairy cows and poultry since it was first detected in April. Nearly 200 dairy herds in 14 states have tested positive for the strain.
As of August, 13 humans exposed to infected dairy cows and poultry have tested positive.
Cases have been mild – patients presented with typical flu symptoms such as fever and chills – and isolated.
However, the 14th human case confirmed earlier this month marks a major turning point in the outbreak.
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On 6 September, the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services announced a person in the state had tested positive for the virus.
The individual tested positive after being hospitalised for other underlying health conditions and presented with chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and weakness. They were not severely ill and have fully recovered, according to the CDC.
The jump from cows to humans has worried virologistsGetty Images
However, unlike previous cases, the person had not been in close contact with infected dairy cattle or farmed birds. Nor were they exposed to raw milk – another source of the infection.
More worrying still, one household contact of the patient became ill with similar symptoms on the same day as the confirmed case, was not tested, and has since recovered.
Virologists were already nervous about the spillover from cows (domesticated cattle share about 80 per cent of their genes with humans) but the first case with no known animal exposure suggests the bird flu strain has acquired the mutation needed for human-to-human transmission.
So far, there has been no evidence that HN51 has acquired this adaption, but it signals that the strain is evolving.
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