Missouri Resident Infected with H5 Bird Flu despite No Animal Exposure
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Missouri resident with no known animal contact has been confirmed to have contracted H5-type bird flu, sparking concerns about potential human-to-human transmission.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (MDHSS) announced late Friday that an individual with underlying medical conditions was hospitalized on August 22 and tested positive for an influenza A virus, according to ArsTechnica.
Subsequent testing at the state's public health laboratory identified the virus as an H5-type bird flu.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed these findings and is conducting further tests to determine if the virus is the H5N1 strain, which has recently caused a widespread outbreak among US dairy cows.
It remains unclear whether the bird flu infection was the cause of the hospitalization or if it was discovered incidentally.
The patient has since recovered and been discharged from the hospital.
To protect the individual's privacy, MDHSS stated that no further information about the patient will be released.
This case marks the 15th human infection of an H5-type bird flu in the US since 2022.
However, this instance is raising alarms as the patient reported no contact with animals—a stark contrast to the previous 14 cases, which all involved farmworkers in contact with infected dairy cows or poultry.
The finding of an infection in someone without such exposure raises the possibility that the H5N1 virus may be spreading undetected from person to person or through an unidentified animal source.
Despite the concerns, some infectious disease experts urge caution.
Caitlin Rivers, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, stated online, "Until such data is collected and analyzed, my level of alarm is only mildly heightened."
Rivers also expressed optimism, noting, "I am encouraged that this case was detected through existing surveillance systems, which bodes well for our ability to identify any additional cases in the future."
She added that ongoing flu surveillance by federal, state, and local health officials through the summer months, in response to the H5 situation, was the right move.
H5N1 has infected 197 herds across 14 states, although Missouri has reported no infected herds, only infected poultry farms.