CDC: Three contacts monitored after Missouri’s first H5 bird flu case

MISSOURI – Health officials identified three contacts, including two healthcare workers, who were closely monitored after a bird flu patient in Missouri was recently hospitalized.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shared Friday that two healthcare workers and one household contact were linked to Missouri’s first bird avian influenza A patient.

According to the CDC…

• One healthcare worker developed mild respiratory symptoms, but was not tested for influenza “as the illness had resolved before the investigation began.”
• One healthcare worker with exposure to Missouri’s first bird flu case “was tested for influenza and was negative.”
• One household contact became ill on the same day that Missouri’s first bird flu patient was diagnosed, but that contact was not tested and has “since recovered.”

The CDC adds that the simultaneous development of symptoms in two contacts “does not support person-to-person spread but suggests a common exposure.”

The patient, an adult not identified by name, age, or gender, was hospitalized on Aug. 22. Public health officials sent a specimen from a patient upon hospitalization, then confirmed the first H5 human case in Missouri on Sept. 6 .

H5 is primarily found in wild birds and poultry, and recently in dairy cows and other animals, and can occasionally infect humans through close contact with infected animals or contaminated environments.

However, the CDC determined on Sept. 12 that it was unable to determine if the Missouri was related to an animal infection. The patient also did not report any known exposure to animals, per Missouri health officials.

According to the CDC, the Missouri case was the 15th human case of H5 reported in the U.S. since 2022.

Following its latest update, the CDC recommends that people should avoid exposures to sick or dead animals, including wild birds, poultry, other domesticated birds, and other wild or domesticated animals (including cows), if possible.

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