In the USA, another person has been diagnosed with the bird flu virus. Unlike the other 13 cases in the United States this year, however, according to the US health authority CDC, this person had no “occupational exposure to sick or infected animals”. The infection occurred in the state of Missouri. The patient was treated in hospital with antiviral medication and has since been discharged.
The H5N1 virus is found almost exclusively in wild and farm animals. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) names scavengers, marine mammals, carnivorous domestic animals, mammals bred for their fur, and ruminants such as dairy cows as carriers. However, experts are concerned about the global spread of bird flu cases in humans.
Concern: Transmitted from a human?
So far, most infected people have had close contact with animals. According to current knowledge, there is no ongoing human-to-human transmission. However, the concern is that the virus continues to change and adapt in mammals.
In the case in Missouri, too, there are now concerns that the virus may have been transmitted from a human due to the circumstances. Investigations are continuing, according to the CDC. Ongoing transmission among close contacts of the patient has not yet been identified.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240907-930-226171/1
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