U.S. health officials have confirmed a human case of avian influenza in a patient with no immediate known exposure to animals.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the patient, who is from Missouri, was treated at a hospital and has since recovered.
This is the 14th human case of avian influenza in the United States in 2024 and the first without known occupational exposure to infected animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The agency said based on current data, the risk to the population remains low.
Avian influenza is a viral disease that primarily affects birds and other animals. Human infection is rare.
Previous cases in the United States have been traced to exposure to infected poultry or cattle, but the Missouri patient marks “the first case of illness or infection without known occupational exposure,” the CDC said in a statement on Friday. H5 cases in animals”.
The cases in Missouri were discovered through routine flu season surveillance. The patient had underlying conditions and was treated with influenza antiviral medications.
Bird flu on the rise among the cattle This year in the United States. The outbreak was first reported in March, and as of September 3, cattle in 14 states had been affected, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
While there have not yet been bird flu outbreaks in cattle in Missouri, bird flu outbreaks have been reported in poultry this year and in wild birds in the past, health officials said.
U.S. health officials discovered a human case of avian influenza in March 2024, which was discovered after contact with a dairy cow that may have been infected with avian influenza.
Bird flu was first detected in China in the 1990s and has since spread to every continent, including Antarctica. World health officials believe the risk to humans is currently low but have been actively monitoring the disease for years.
it has disease Impacting wildlife around the worldinfecting species as diverse as sea lions, seals, and bears.
