For several months, the United States has been facing an epizootic – the equivalent of an epidemic in animals – of avian flu. This man, carrying other pathologies, was the first serious case recorded in the country.
Published on 06/01/2025 23:20
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A first human death linked to avian flu has been recorded in the United States, Louisiana state health authorities announced Monday, January 6. They specify in a press release that it was an elderly patient suffering from other pathologies. This patient, aged over 65, was the first serious case of human contamination with the H5N1 virus detected in the United States since the new wave of contaminations in animals. He was being treated for a respiratory illness and was in “critical condition”health authorities reported in December, when his hospitalization was announced.
He had “contracted the H5N1 virus after exposure to backyard and wild birds”recalled the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) on Monday. “LDH’s extensive public health investigation has not identified additional cases of H5N1 or evidence of person-to-person transmission. This patient remains the only human case of H5N1 in Louisiana.”he continues on his site.
For these reasons, the overall risk posed by avian influenza to public health remains “weak”he believes. “People who work with birds, poultry or cows, or are exposed to these animals in their leisure time, are at higher risk”it is specified. Other human deaths linked to the H5N1 virus have been recorded in the past in other countries, according to the WHO.
