At least eight people may be infected with H5N1 bird flu in Missouri, marking the first cluster of the disease spreading between humans in the United States.
The first case of a human contracting bird flu with no known animal contact happened in Missouri in August, making it the 15th confirmed case of bird flu in the U.S. since 2022, with 14 total cases occurring this year.
At that point, state and federal health officials identified that the Missouri patient may have infected one household member and two hospital workers.
But information released on Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms that four more healthcare workers are being tested to confirm possible H5N1 infection after developing mild respiratory symptoms.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for an update regarding antibody testing for the total of eight suspected cases.
If the results come back positive, the healthcare workers would be the first cases of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 bird flu worldwide, the beginning of what public health experts have been concerned about for several months.
H5N1 bird flu has been circulating more widely among mammals since 2022, but concerns for public health officials peaked this spring with the first infections of dairy cattle.
As of Friday, there are 238 dairy herds in the U.S. infected with the disease across 14 states, according to the CDC, which is working in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDA also reported that since April, there have been 18.75 million birds affected by the virus, including 36 commercial flocks and 23 backyard flocks.
Missouri does not have any cattle with confirmed H5N1, but the virus is presumed to be circulating among domesticated and wild birds in all 50 states.
U.S. public health systems came under pressure this summer from the World Health Organization and other international bodies to improve testing and oversight of the spread of the virus, in part out of fear of another global pandemic.
The CDC has supported the adaptation of state influenza monitoring systems to observe people with exposure to cows, birds, and other possibly infected animals.
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“To date, more than 5,000 people have been monitored as a result of their exposure to infected or potentially infected animals, and at least 240 people who have developed flu-like symptoms have been tested as part of this targeted, situation-specific testing,” according to the CDC’s Friday report.
Missouri has not published an update on the possible cases of human-to-human transmission since Sept. 6.