A Washington state resident has preliminarily examined constructive for hen flu, marking the primary human case within the U.S. in 9 months.
The Washington State Division of Well being stated in a press release that the affected person, who’s an older grownup with underlying well being circumstances, developed signs together with excessive fever, confusion and respiratory misery and was hospitalized in early November.
The affected person, who lives in Grays Habor County — within the northeastern a part of the state — is at present receiving therapy at a hospital in King County.
No different identifiable details about the affected person was made out there together with identify, age or intercourse.
Washington State Public Well being Laboratories is operating confirmatory testing to confirm the outcomes, in accordance with WSDOH. If confirmed, it could be the primary human case within the state and the primary reported within the U.S. since February.
Colorized transmission electron micrograph of avian influenza A H5N1 virus particles.
NIH-NIAID/BSIP/Common Photographs Group through Getty Photographs
An investigation is underway to find out how the affected person grew to become contaminated, together with figuring out in the event that they got here into contact with wild or home birds. Public well being officers are additionally contacting anybody the affected person might have been in shut contact.
Well being officers say there may be at present no danger to the general public and that WSDOH is working with native well being departments and well being care amenities “to help the investigation.”
“Two issues for the general public actually to know about that is that the chance to most people may be very low and we have by no means had human-to-human transmission,” state epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist stated in a media briefing on Thursday. “We do not wish to be the primary, clearly, and we will watch out and ensure that we’re not lacking that.”
Fowl flu, often known as avian influenza, has been current in birds for many years, however in recent times it has began to contaminate increasingly more mammals.
In early March 2024, the U.S. Division of Agriculture introduced a hen flu pressure that had sickened hundreds of thousands of birds throughout the U.S. was recognized in a number of mammals this yr.
A number of weeks later, federal and state public well being officers stated they have been investigating an sickness amongst primarily older dairy cows in Kansas, New Mexico and Texas. Shortly after, the primary hen flu an infection in a human within the U.S. was reported in a Texas dairy employee.
Since then, there have been a minimum of 70 confirmed instances amongst people within the U.S., not counting the Washington state affected person, in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Most human instances have occurred after coming into contact with contaminated cattle, contaminated poultry farms or different culling operations.
The vast majority of instances have been gentle — with signs akin to crimson eyes and fever — however a number of have resulted in additional extreme signs. In January, the primary hen flu dying was confirmed amongst an older affected person with underlying circumstances
The CDC and different public well being officers say there may be at present no proof of human-to-human transmission and the chance to most people is low.
