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US reports first human H5 bird flu case in Colorado resident
The CDC said the person tested positive for avian influenza A(H5) virus and was involved in the culling of poultry presumed to have had H5N1 bird flu.
The United States reported its first known case of H5 bird flu in a human with the virus appearing in a person in Colorado.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the person tested positive for avian influenza A(H5) virus and was involved in the culling of poultry presumed to have had H5N1 bird flu. However, the case does not change the human risk assessment for the general public, which the CDC considers to be low.
This is the second human case associated with this specific group of H5 viruses across the globe. The first one was reported in Britain in December 2021.
The CDC said the Colorado patient reported fatigue for a few days as the only symptom and has since recovered. The patient was being treated under isolation and with the influenza antiviral drug oseltamivir.
H5N1 viruses have been found in US commercial and backyard birds in 29 states and in wild birds in 34 states since the CDC started monitoring for illness among people exposed to the viruses in late 2021.
"The CDC has tracked the health of more than 2,500 people with exposure to H5N1 virus-infected birds and this is the only case that has been found to date. Other people involved in the culling operation in Colorado have tested negative for H5 virus infection, but they are being retested out of an abundance of caution," it said.
(With agency inputs)
