Dairy cows on a farm in Porterville, California
Reuters reported on December 19 that the United States has just recorded the first case of severe bird flu infection in a patient in Louisiana, hospitalized in critical condition after suspected contact with infected animals in his yard.
In that context, California – the most populous state in the US – declared a state of emergency over H5N1, a virus that continues to spread among dairy cows and infected dozens of people working on farms this year. .
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, the above patient is suffering from severe respiratory illness, with factors such as underlying medical conditions and age over 65 years old putting the patient at higher risk.
Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Demetre Daskalakis said this is the first case involving domestic pets, not poultry. commerce.
The CDC says avian flu remains a low risk to the general public. The CDC has confirmed 61 human cases nationwide since April, mostly in workers on dairy farms. Workers who destroyed infected poultry also tested positive.
CDC said partial viral genome data from the patient above showed the virus belongs to genotype D1.1, which was recently discovered in wild birds and poultry in the US and in recent human cases in the province. British Columbia (Canada) and Washington state (USA).
This virus genotype is different from the B3.13 genotype detected in dairy cows, human cases in many states and several poultry outbreaks across the country.
