CDC / NIAs
Transmission electron microscopy image of a rod-shaped avian influenza virion
A Washington state resident died after contracting a rare strain of bird flu, previously only detected in animals, state health authorities announced. It is the second human death associated with the virus in the United States this year, the first caused by the H5N5 strain.
The first person recorded to be infected with the H5N5 strain from bird flu died on Friday, confirmed the Washington State Department of Health (WSDH), in the United States.
The patient in question was identified only as “an older adult with health problems pre-existing conditions” and had been admitted to a hospital unit since the beginning of this month, indicated the same department in .
“Out of respect for the family’s privacy, we will not disclose the namegender or age”, reads the WSDH note.
After contracting the virus, which had never been registered before in humans, the person was admitted to a King County hospital.
Tests carried out by the University of Washington confirmed that the patient was infected with the H5N5 bird flu virusthe department also said, classifying the case as “the first infection recorded worldwide with this variant in a human being”. The result was confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Right now, there is no reason to suspect that the H5N5 virus is capable of transmitting from person to person. “The risk to the general population remains low. None of the other people involved have tested positive for bird flu. There is no evidence of transmission of this virus between people”, adds the WSDH note.
The same applies to the H5N1 straina highly pathogenic form of bird flu that was the cause of the other 70 cases of human infection recorded in the USA and that, in the last two years, has caused outbreaks in wild birds, poultry, dairy cows and other mammals.
According to the WSDH note, the patient had “a bunch of different species of poultry in the backyard” and authorities believe that this breeding was the origin of exposure to the virus.
The CDC recorded this year more than 70 human cases of bird flu. One person died following an H5N1 infection in the state of Louisiana in January.
Since 2003, the World Health Organization has recorded more than a thousand cases bird flu in humans, in 25 countries – a number that includes all known strains of the virus.
According to a report released in May, the number of cases of bird flu in humans in the USA, without a clear explanation, and there are fears that the government cuts have reduced the number of screening tests and are affect disease monitoring.
Influenza viruses are identified by two proteins present on its surface: the hemaglutinina (H) e a neuraminidase (N). There are 18 possible subtypes of H and 11 possible subtypes of N, but most of the known combinations have only been detected in avian flu viruses, explains .
The passage of these viruses to humans It’s rare, although it happensas has been seen with H5N1. To the people who work with birds wild or domestic animals, or those who spend a lot of time in close contact with these animals, are those most at risk.
