US, first severe avian influenza case in a man
The patient was admitted to hospital in Louisiana
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First serious case of avian influenza - A (H5N1) - in a human in the United States, US health authorities announced.
The patient was hospitalised in Louisiana, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. There have been a total of 61 cases in the US but all the others were mild. The new patient was exposed to sick and dead birds in flocks of farm animals.
U.S. Centre for Disease Prevention: 'Overall risk remains low'
"A sporadic case of severe avian influenza H5N1 disease in one person is not unexpected". The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated this in a note, referring to the patient admitted in Louisiana with a severe form of the infection. This is the 'first case of severe illness linked to the virus in the United States', the CoC reported.
But 'this case,' they point out, 'does not change the overall assessment of the immediate risk to public health from H5N1 avian influenza, which remains low'. The experts, in other words, expected that sooner or later there would be a more serious case than the others, which so far have mostly been characterised by mild symptoms.
"Avian influenza A/H5N1 virus infection," they explain, "has previously been associated with severe human illness in other countries in 2024 and previous years, and also with illness that has caused death.
