Bird flu patient in Louisiana becomes first human death in current H5N1 outbreak

A patient with the first “severe case” of bird flu in the United States has died, according to a press release Monday from the Louisiana Department of Health. It is the first human death from H5N1 in the country since concern about the current outbreak began in early 2024 when it became clear that the virus was transmitted in the United States between cattle.

“The patient was over the age of 65 and was reported to have underlying medical conditions. The patient contracted H5N1 after exposure to a combination of a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds,” he said. the Louisiana Department of Health. statement.

There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of bird flu anywhere in the world, and health officials insist they do not believe the patient who died infected anyone else. But concern about bird flu mutating in a way that would allow it to spread between humans has been present for months.

“The Department expresses its deepest condolences to the patient’s family and friends as they mourn the loss of their loved one,” the health department wrote. “Out of patient confidentiality and respect for the family, this will be the final update on the patient.”

It is believed that the patient contracted H5N1 from backyard chickensproved to be a more serious form of disease in humans. Most of the human cases acquired in the United States during this current outbreak have been agricultural workers exposed to cattle, which created a much milder version of the disease.

The CDC bird flu tracker online currently lists 10 states that have seen known human cases of bird flu. The states include California, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Two cases in California and Missouri came from unknown sources where the patients did not work with farm animals.

There were also additional probable cases in Washington, Arizona, California and Delaware where the source was unknown and testing has not yet confirmed whether it was H5N1. California has the highest number of cases by far, but the only lab in the state that can confirm avian flu is under pressure, according to the LA Times.

Countries like Finland vaccinate farm workers against bird flu, but the US federal government has not implemented a strategy to vaccinate farm workers because the US is a failed country without even a single piece of common sense. And with Donald Trump taking over the White House on January 20, you can bet he’ll handle any potential new pandemic just like he did the last one. Which is to say, not very well.

The case in Louisiana is the first human death from bird flu in the United States during this current outbreak, but there was one death in Mexico back in May 2024 in a patient with no known exposure to farm animals. The case, like the patient in Louisiana, was in a person with other underlying conditions, although it is not clear what they might be.

The Louisiana Department of Health has published a list of things people should do to avoid getting sick, including cooking meat and poultry properly and not consuming raw milk and cheese. Avian influenza can remain in raw milk for about five daysand a cat in Oregon died last month after contracting bird flu from raw food and animals are not immune from this virus.

• Do not touch sick or dead animals or their droppings and do not bring sick wild animals into your home.
• Keep your pets away from sick or dead animals and their feces.
• Do not eat raw or undercooked food. Cook poultry, eggs and other animal products to the proper temperature and prevent cross-contamination between raw and cooked food.
• Avoid raw food products such as unpasteurized raw milk or cheese from animals that have a suspected or confirmed infection.
• If you work on poultry or dairy farms, talk to your doctor about getting your seasonal flu vaccination. It does not prevent infection with avian influenza viruses, but may reduce the risk of co-infection with avian influenza viruses.

Do what you can to protect yourself with these measures, folks. Because there is no guarantee that we can avoid H5N1 becoming another pandemic.