The United States has been suffering from a serious bird flu epidemic for months and the news we are receiving is not encouraging. Months ago we saw the first mild infections in humans. A few weeks ago it was the first swine infection, something worrying because the probability of the virus making the final leap to humans increased.
Now, we have the first serious infection detected in a person.
First severe case. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have announced the detection of the first severe case in humans of avian influenza A(H5N1). The case was detected last Friday, December 13, in the state of Louisiana.
According to indicated Associated Pressthis is a person over 65 years old and with previous pathologies.
Emergency in California. The announcement of the new case has been made almost at the same time as another statement. That of the declaration of the state of emergency in the state of California. The governor of the most populous state in the United States announced the new measure yesterday.
The authorities justify this change in trying to avoid serious cases (not to mention the case detected in Louisiana). California is the largest national producer of milk and has 1.7 million dairy cows, double that of Spain. In August, possible cases began to be investigated in state farms on the American west coast.
Different variants. According to the genetic analyzes carried out by the institution, this is a case that would not be directly associated with the majority of the outbreaks that devastate the country’s farms. This case is associated, explains the CDC, with genotype D1.1, a genotype found in both wild and free-range birds, and which had already been detected in British Columbia (western Canada) and in the northwestern state of Washington.
On the other hand, a good part of the cases documented in recent months have been associated with the B3.13 genotype. This genotype has affected numerous poultry farms and has been detected sporadically in humans, but its most significant feature is perhaps the impact it is having on livestock farms, specifically on American cattle.
Investigating the origin. The CDC continue investigating the origin of the case, but they have indicated that the person had been exposed to sick and dead birds in their environment. This is, in fact, the first case of infection in humans in the United States associated with a small domestic poultry farm.
Low risk. Despite this news, US authorities maintain their risk estimate like “low”. As they explain, a severe case of this flu is something that is not entirely unexpected since this type of infection had already occurred in other countries, where there have even been deaths associated with the virus.
Furthermore, infections between people have not yet been detected, something that would significantly increase the risk. That is why the CDC has not altered its assessment of the immediate risk associated with this epidemic.
61 cases in total. USA now totals 61 infections of avian influenza A(H5N1) in humans since the first cases associated with this epidemic wave were recorded in April of this year. The human cases add to the long list of infections in animals.
In the North American country alone, more than 10,800 cases have been detected in wild birds and more than 123.8 million infections in poultry farms. This must be add 865 dairy farms where cases have been detected.
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Image | Magda Ehlers