UA first. A human has tested positive for bird flu in the United States without having had any known contact with an animal, American authorities announced on Friday, September 6. While until now, human cases of bird flu have been detected in the agricultural world, the hospitalization for a case of flu on August 22 in an adult resident of Missouri prompted the authorities to request a battery of additional tests.
The result is clear. The simple case of flu for which the man had been admitted turned out to be a case of avian flu, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local authorities reported in press releases.
Towards a mutation of the virus?
While thirteen people have already been infected with bird flu in the United States since the beginning of the year, this fourteenth case is a first for the country. Indeed, the infected patient had no known contact with an animal before developing the disease.
In the spring, an unusual fact had already been detected in the United States. While the disease mainly affects poultry and birds, a first infection had been detected in Texas in a human via a cow, making this case the first known worldwide via a bovine. Since then, the announcement of this case has worried experts who fear that an increasing number of mammals are infected by the virus, or even that its circulation will facilitate its spread. […] Read more
