The strain of Avian flu (bird flu) identified in a sick child is very similar to the one that is decimating the country’s dairy and poultry farms, the CDC announced. This finding is significant for a couple of reasons according to experts. First, the child did not have any known exposure to any animals infected with the disease. The patient is at least the third person in the US who developed the illness with no known contact with an infected animal, suggesting that the virus is spreading through other means. One possible route of viral transmission is person-to-person, which infectious disease experts have been concerned about for many months.
While genetic tests on some Avian flu virus samples have revealed that it is mutating to become more dangerous to humans, it has not yet gained the ability to easily spread among people. One more likely explanation is that other animals like dogs, cats and could be helping to spread the virus to people. The virus has been detected in a wide variety mammals over the last few years. Avian flu began to ravage poultry farms in the US in 2022. In Spring of 2024, the virus began to spread among dairy cow herds. Since then over 742 cow herds have been impacted across 16 states.
“This case does not change CDC’s assessment of the immediate risk to the general public, which remains low at this time,” the health agency said in a statement about the newest confirmed case. At the same time, scientists say that the longer the virus is allowed to circulate among animals and people, the greater the chances of that it will evolve the capability of spreading easily from person to person.
Full Story: HealthDay
