A hospitalized patient in Missouri was infected Avian flu Health officials said Friday that the infected person has died, although there has been no known contact with dairy cows or other animals linked to the ongoing outbreak.
This is the 14th case in the United States. Avian flu The number of infected people has surpassed one million since the virus was detected in cattle in March after infecting wild birds and mammals around the world, with one further person infected in 2022.
But in a statement, the US Centers for Disease Control said this was the first time that any of the 14 people “had no prior occupational contact with the disease or infected animals.”
The CDC said the risk to the general public remains low, and officials said they have not identified any unusual influenza outbreaks in the U.S., including in Missouri.
The latest case, an adult, was identified after being hospitalized Aug. 22 for another illness, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services officials said in a statement.
The person tested positive for influenza A, which CDC officials later confirmed was avian flu. Health officials said the person was given antiviral medication and has since recovered and returned home.
Missouri State Health Department spokeswoman Lisa Cox said it was unclear whether the hospitalizations were due to avian flu infection or because of the patients’ pre-existing health conditions.
Health officials have not released the names, ages or hometowns of the infected people, who have not been in close contact with the infected person, CDC officials said.
The case raises the question of how this person contracted the virus, as all previous cases in the US have been in people who worked in cattle or chicken farming.
According to the USDA, avian flu has been detected on about 200 dairy farms in 14 states so far this year, but not in Missouri. Avian flu has also been found in commercial and home-raised chickens and wild birds. Cox said the person did not report drinking raw milk that could have contained the live virus.
Officials said the investigation is ongoing.
Officials said this was the first case to be detected through routine influenza surveillance rather than through targeted efforts to identify people infected with bird flu through contact with infected cattle or poultry.