The first case of death from avian influenza type H5N1 was recorded in the US state of Louisiana on Monday, the local health department’s press office reported.
The Louisiana Department of Health said in a statement:
“The patient was over the age of 65 and was reported to have underlying medical conditions. The patient contracted H5N1 after exposure to a combination of a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds.”
The man was hospitalised and despite medical attention, died from the disease. This is the first and only human case of bird flu reported in Louisiana and the US.
While expressing condolences to the patient’s family, the Louisiana Department of Health assured the public that the risk of bird flu spreading to humans remains very low.
However, people who work with birds, poultry or farm animals, or spend time in wild bird habitats are at greater risk of infection.
In late December 2024, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was reported to have identified an avian flu mutation in a patient with the country’s first severe case.
According to the CDC, the identified mutation was not present in samples taken from the patient’s infected birds. The agency noted that the changes in the samples of the infected person were observed in one of the genes – haemagglutinin, which plays a key role in attaching to cells in the body of the virus carrier.
