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A resident of Washington, United States, died due to complications resulting from an infection never before reported in humans. The death was confirmed by the US Department of Health, this Friday (11/21).
Disease Control and Prevention Laboratory (CDC) identified the virus as , making it the first infection recorded by the variant in a person on the planet. The strain was first recorded in 2023, infecting birds and mammals in eastern Canada.
The fatal victim in the USA was an elderly woman with underlying health problems, resident of Grays Harbor County. She raised a small group of poultry in her backyard.
Tests by the Department of Health identified the virus from the poultry in the backyard and indicate that birds are the most likely source of contagion for the patient. “People who had contact with the group of birds and the backyard environment are also being monitored for the emergence of symptoms”, he says.
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To date, no one who had contact with the victim has tested positive for bird flu, which reinforces that transmission remains impossible between humans. The case represents the second death from the disease in the USA in 2025 alone. The first, at the end of January, occurred from another strain.
Understand what bird flu is
- Also known as avian influenza, bird flu is a highly contagious viral disease that mainly affects wild and domestic birds, but can also affect humans at low risk. .
- Among the main symptoms presented in birds are respiratory difficulty, nasal or eye secretion, sneezing, motor incoordination, stiff neck, diarrhea and high mortality.
- All suspicions of avian influenza, which include respiratory, neurological signs or high and sudden mortality in birds, must be reported immediately to the Secretariat of Agriculture through the Agricultural Defense Inspectorate.
The Department of Health assesses that the risk to the general public remains low.
“Public health authorities will continue to monitor anyone who has had close contact with the patient to check for the emergence of symptoms and ensure that person-to-person transmission has not occurred. There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of this virus,” the statement said.
However, bird flu infections in humans cause concern because the virus can mutate further if the infected person also has another type of flu — which can make the disease more transmissible or lethal.
According to the CDC, . However, most of those infected only showed mild symptoms, such as red eyes and fever. Almost all cases have been recorded in people who work directly with livestock or poultry. In only three cases was the cause of exposure not identified.
