Washington, April 29 (IANS) The US has confirmed the first known human case of H5 bird flu in a person in the state of Colorado, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced.
The person tested positive for the avian influenza A (H5) virus and was involved in the culling of poultry presumed to have had H5N1 bird flu, Xinhua news agency quoted the CDC as saying on Thursday.
The patient reported fatigue for a few days as the only symptom and has since recovered.
According to the CDC, the patient is being isolated and treated with the influenza antiviral drug oseltamivir.
"This case does not change the human risk assessment for the general public, which CDC considers to be low," the health agency said.
CDC has been monitoring for illness among people exposed to H5N1 virus-infected birds since these outbreaks were detected in wild birds and poultry since late 2021.
To date, H5N1 viruses have been found in commercial and backyard birds in 29 states and in wild birds in 34 states, according to the CDC.
The agency has tracked the health of more than 2,500 people with exposure to H5N1 virus-infected birds and this is the only human case that has been found to date.
It is the second human case worldwide associated with this specific group of H5 viruses that are currently predominant.
The first case was reported in Britain in December 2021.
U.S.-based Novavax partnered with the Serum Institute of India to apply in the three countries, and plans later this month to also seek the World Health Organization review needed to be part of the COVAX global vaccine program.
The Biden administration has kept in place travel restrictions that have severely curtailed international trips to the U.S., citing the spread of the delta variant of the virus. Under the rules, non-U.S. residents who have been to China, the European Schengen area, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa and India in the prior 14 days are prohibited from entering the U.S.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control last week warned the Delta variant of the virus is so contagious, vaccinated people who do get infected could be just as big a risk to others as people who aren't vaccinated.
The new requirement, which will be phased in over several weeks in August and September, is the most aggressive step the city has taken yet to curb a surge in cases caused by the delta variant.
The findings have the potential to upend past thinking about how the disease is spread. Previously, vaccinated people who got infected were thought to have low levels of virus and to be unlikely to pass it to others. But the new data shows that is not the case with the delta variant.
