Last week, we discussed the first H5N1 human case in Mexico. (See Mexico Reports First Human H5N1 Case). This case was in a three year old girl, hospitalized in serious condition. The situation evolved quickly and unfortunately the child died from respiratory complications in the hospital. (See Fatal H5N1 Cases in Children and Risks to […]
In recent and unfortunate bird flu news, We have reports of two fatal H5N1 cases in children. The first, a three year old girl in Mexico. The second, a two year old child in India. The latter case also invites questions about the safety of the food chain as more H5N1 infected poultry meat is
On Friday, April 4, 2025, Mexico reported the country’s first human case of H5N1 bird flu. The details about the first human H5N1 case in Mexico: The patient is a three year old girl. She is currently hospitalized. She was treated with oseltamivir and remains in serious condition. The Mexican Government issued a press release
The CDC recently issued a Bird Flu Response Update (March 19, 2025). It provides more details on the recent human H5N1 case from Ohio. The human H5N1 case from Ohio: As we previously discussed in New Human H5N1 bird flu cases: Nevada, Ohio, Wyoming, a poultry farm worker in Ohio tested positive for H5N1 in
In its recent bird flu update, the CDC reported results of serology testing from the close contacts of a recent H5N1 case in a child in San Francisco, California. The results show no human to human transmission of the virus. Another child in California tests positive for H5N1, with an unknown exposure source: This was the
This last week was busy with new human H5N1 bird flu cases in 3 states. We have the first reported case in Nevada, with exposure from dairy cattle. We have the first case from Ohio, with exposure to poultry. And we have the first case out of Wyoming, with exposure to backyard poultry and the
We have another human H5N1 case in the U.K., where a person was infected with the virus directly from birds. On January 27, 2025, the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported an H5N1 case in the West Midlands region. (Being curious, I consulted a map and found that this area is located in the
A person in Louisiana who had been hospitalized for bird flu has died, reported the Louisiana Department of Health on Monday, January 6, 2024. The CDC reported the fatality on the same day. This marks the first ever H5N1 human fatality in the U.S., a grim milestone, to be sure. It was only a few
In the past week, there have been several developments with regard to H5N1 and human health. We now have a severe case of bird flu in a patient currently hospitalized in Louisiana. We also have a “probable” H5N1 case from Delaware that was mild and not confirmed by the CDC, so it is not included
Cases of H5N1 in humans have been on the rise as more and more dairy cattle herds and poultry farms are infected with the bird flu virus. On 12/4/24 the CDC added an additional bird flu case to its official list of H5N1 human cases in the U.S. The total official count of human cases
In recent H5N1 bird flu studies news, a study published on December 5, 2024 found that a single mutation in the HA gene of a recent H5N1 virus caused a receptor binding switch: meaning the preferred receptors for this virus changed from avian a-3 receptors to human a-6 receptors. This finding has gotten a lot
As of 12/2/2024, the CDC lists 57 human H5N1 cases in its official count. This tally is very likely, if not certainly, an undercount. The official count of human H5N1 cases is likely low: This official count of bird flu cases in the U.S. is very likely an underestimation. Indeed, several occurrences have indicated that
