The 65-year-old man is in serious condition.
Ce Wednesday December 18THE American authorities announced that a 65 year old man has been urgently hospitalized following infection with the virus bird flu in Louisiana (UNITED STATES). This is the first serious case of this virus which has already affected 60 people since last April in America. The other affected people had only mild symptoms.
The man, who also suffers from other pathologies, is in “critical condition” and “suffers from a severe respiratory illness”, according to Louisiana health authorities. He apparently caught the virus after coming into contact with sick and dead birds in a farmyard.
NBC News said the Department of Health is investigating and monitoring the patient’s contacts for possible exposures. They also offer tests and medications to stop the spread of the virus as quickly as possible.
A rapid spread
“Avian flu is knocking on our door and could trigger a new pandemic,” Meg Schaeffer, an epidemiologist at the American SAS institute, recently said.
The United States has unfortunately been facing an epidemic of avian flu in animals for several months. It circulates in particular within poultry farms but also in cow herds. California has taken emergency measures to “respond quickly” to this virus.
The authorities also want to be reassuring regarding a possible spread to humans: “No spread of avian flu […] from one person to another has not been detected,” they reassure.
However, the United States fears that the transmission of the virus from animals to animals will in the near future facilitate the mutation of the virus which, in turn, could pass from human to human.
Health
France
