Someone in Louisiana has been hospitalized with a “severe case” of avian influenza, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Wednesday—marking the first instance of severe human illness tied to the H5N1 bird flu in the U.S. as the illness continues to spread through livestock.
This colorized electron microscope image released by the National Institute of Allergy and ... [+]
The agency says the man “had exposure to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks”—marking the first human case tied to a backyard flock.
The CDC said in a press release no person-to-person spread of the bird flu has been detected, and this case doesn’t change the overall assessment of public health risk—which is low—from the avian flu.
The Louisiana Department of Health confirmed detection of the case last week and said the patient was from southwestern Louisiana.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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