The US reports the first serious case of bird flu in humans

A patient has been hospitalized in the state of Louisiana after presenting the first serious case of bird flu in the United States, as reported this Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The authorities have recorded a total of 61 cases of infections from bird flu in the United States, but all the others have been mild.

Specifically, this patient has been exposed to sick and dead birds on a farm. The details of the case, confirmed this Friday, have not been revealed and its prognosis is unknown.

Genetic sequencing revealed that the H5N1 virus in the patient belonged to the D1.1 genotyperecently detected in wild and poultry birds in the United States, as well as in people in Washington state and the Canadian province of British Columbia.

The D1.1 genotype differs from B3.13identified in dairy cows and which has triggered some outbreaks in poultry and people with mild symptoms such as conjunctivitis.

Several of the human cases detected in the United States do not come from contact with an animal, but health authorities consider that it is too soon to suggest human-to-human transmission.

The CDC believes that risk For the general public it is low.

An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or H5N1, was first reported in several states in March.