Human Bird Flu Case In The US With No Animal Exposure
In a rare bird flu case, a person was hospitalised in Missouri, U.S., in September. There is no known link to sick or infected animals, making the case distinct. This case has raised concerns about human-to-human transmission of the virus. The person has recovered; however, the health officials are still puzzled about the source of the virus.
The Missouri case was detected through routine flu surveillance, and the person tested positive for bird flu. Missouri health officials reported that the patient had another medical condition and received flu antiviral medications.
Bird flu, or H5 avian influenza, saw an uptick recently when dairy workers were found positive for the H5N1 strain. A bird flu outbreak was reported in the U.S. in March. According to the CDC (Centres of Disease Control and Prevention)), there have been 14 cases since then. However, they were caused by exposure to potentially infected dairy cows, so this is a rare case.
Most bird flu strains don’t affect humans much; however, four variants—H5N1, H7N9, H5N6, and H5N8 — have raised concerns in recent years and even caused deaths.
Also Read: The Most Common Health Issue – Cold and Flu
Some symptoms of bird flu are high temperature, chills, myalgia, cough or cold, etc. If diseased with bird flu, people might also experience diarrhoea, stomach pain, sickness, chest pain, etc. Some tips to prevent bird flu are avoiding exposure to live birds and poultry, consuming raw eggs, ensuring hand hygiene, etc.
