A Louisiana affected person hospitalized in crucial situation with extreme fowl flu has died, the state well being division mentioned Monday, marking the primary U.S. loss of life as a result of virus.
The affected person was older than 65 years and was reported to have underlying medical situations. The affected person contracted H5N1 after publicity to a mix of a noncommercial yard flock and wild birds.
Whereas the public well being danger for the general public stays low, individuals who work with birds, poultry or cows — or have leisure publicity to them — are at increased danger, officers mentioned. There isn’t any proof the virus is spreading from individual to individual, and the company mentioned the affected person stays the one human case of H5N1 in Louisiana.
The Louisiana Division of Well being didn’t present particulars about when the affected person died or what therapy the individual acquired, resulting from confidentiality.
“The Department expresses its deepest condolences to the patient’s family and friends as they mourn the loss of their loved one. Due to patient confidentiality and respect for the family, this will be the final update about the patient,” the company mentioned in a press release.
The U.S. has recorded not less than 66 human instances of H5N1. All aside from the one in Louisiana have been delicate, with respiratory signs or pink eye. A lot of the instances have been attributable to publicity to contaminated cattle, whereas others have been present in folks working at poultry farms and culling operations.
CDC officers have mentioned instances of extreme H5N1 sickness and deaths aren’t sudden. The present outbreak was first detected in dairy cattle in March, and it has since unfold to greater than 900 herds throughout 16 states.
In Could 2024, CDC started reporting extra, sporadic human instances in individuals who had publicity to contaminated dairy cows.
The information of the affected person’s loss of life comes after the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention mentioned final month the virus within the Louisiana affected person carried mutations to assist it turn into extra transmissible.
The virus and mutations in that affected person have been much like ones noticed in a hospitalized affected person in British Columbia, Canada. Each sufferers carried a model of the virus that’s circulating in wild birds, distinct from the one inflicting the outbreak in dairy cattle.
