A Wyoming girl has been hospitalized with the chook flu after her yard hen flock contracted the illness and died, state and federal well being officers mentioned.
The Wyoming State Well being Division mentioned a Platte County girl examined optimistic for the H5N1 influenza on Friday, turning into the primary human to contract the virus within the state’s historical past.
Whereas human instances of chook flu throughout the US usually include delicate signs, Dr. Alexia Harrist, the state well being officer and state epidemiologist, confirmed that the older girl within the Wyoming case had different well being situations that compounded the signs.
“Sadly, this affected person’s expertise has been rather more severe,” Harrist mentioned in an announcement.
State well being officers harassed that the lady possible contracted the virus on account of her direct contact with the contaminated flock, noting that “there was no documented human-to-human virus transmission of this virus in the USA thus far.”
Harrist mentioned her workforce was rapidly working to search out anybody else who had contact with the affected person and contaminated flock as they monitor the scenario within the state.
The chook flu and its totally different strains have been wreaking havoc on America’s poultry provide since 2022, resulting in the culling of tons of of tens of millions of animals.
There have been 70 confirmed human instances of the chook flu within the US over the previous yr, with the primary dying recorded final month in Louisiana, based on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
The estimate is probably going an undercount as new information reveals that the chook flu has been silently spreading from animals to some veterinarians.
Together with the leap to people, the virus was detected for the primary time in US dairy cows final yr, infecting greater than 960 cattle herds in a minimum of 16 states.
To date, consultants have but to detect a major change within the chook virus and its totally different strains that might trigger one other Covid-19-type pandemic within the US.
With Put up wires
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