The first human death linked to bird flu was announced in the US, by health authorities in the state of Louisiana, who clarified that it was an elderly patient with underlying diseases.
This patient, over 65 years old, was the first serious human case of H5N1 identified in the country.
He had been admitted to hospital with a respiratory infection and was in "critical condition", health authorities said in December.
He was infected "by the H5N1 virus after contact with domestic and wild birds," the Louisiana Department of Health recalled yesterday.
"The extensive public health investigation carried out" by the ministry "did not allow the identification of any further cases of H5N1, nor evidence of human-to-human transmission, it reassured." "This patient remains the only human case of H5N1 in Louisiana," he said in a press release.
For these reasons, the overall public health risk of bird flu continues to be considered "low," according to the same source.
However, "people who work with birds, poultry or cows, or are exposed to birds during their recreational activities, are at higher risk," the ministry said.
For months, the US has been dealing with an epizootic — an epidemic in animals — of bird flu.
During the same period, 66 human cases of bird flu were detected in the country, most of them with mild symptoms. There may have been others that were not noticed.
Genome sequencing showed that the H5N1 virus that infected the deceased patient was different from the version that has been found in cow herds and poultry farms.
In addition, a small part of the virus, located in the patient's larynx, showed genetic modifications that would allow the conclusion that it mutated in his body and adapted to the human respiratory system, the US health authorities reported in late December.
Other deaths attributed to H5N1 have previously been reported in other countries, according to the World Health Organization.
Avian influenza A (H5N1) first appeared in 1996, but, since 2020, the number of outbreaks has exploded and now infects a growing number of mammal species.
Experts are worried about this very thing, that is to say that the number of infected mammals is increasing, even though human cases remain comparatively very rare. What worries them is the possibility that widespread circulation of the virus could make it easier for it to mutate in a way that would allow it to be transmitted from person to person.
Source: protothema.gr
