A child in California is the first reported case of bird flu in a minor in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement Friday that the child experienced mild symptoms but was treated with antiviral drugs and is recovering.
There is no evidence that the virus has spread to others, and family members of children who reported similar symptoms have tested negative.
The child and family have tested positive for other common respiratory viruses.
Health officials said it remains unclear how the child contracted the disease and are investigating “possible contact with wild birds.”
The CDC confirmed that the child attends day care and lives in Alameda County, which includes Oakland and surrounding areas, but no other details were released.
This brings the total number of bird flu infections in the United States this year to 55, including 29 in California. Most of the confirmed cases are farm workers who tested positive with mild symptoms, except for an adult in Missouri with no known contact with infected animals.
After the Missouri incident, health officials acknowledged there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission.
The CDC maintains the risk to the general public remains low.
Avian influenza can cause a variety of symptoms in humans, ranging from asymptomatic or mild to fatal.
There are no deaths recorded in the United States.
Human infection occurs when the virus enters a person's eyes, nose, or mouth, or is inhaled.
signs and symptoms
- Redness of the eyes (conjunctivitis)
- Mild flu-like upper respiratory symptoms
- Pneumonia requiring hospitalization
- Fever (temperature 100°F) [37.8ºC] or more) or fever*
- cough
- sore throat
- runny or stuffy nose
- muscle pain or body aches
- headache
- fatigue
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
*Fever may not always be present.
Source: CDC
H5N1 avian influenza is spreading rapidly among wild birds in the United States, and in some cases may spread to other animals.
The first confirmed case in the United States was recorded in April 2022, when a person in Colorado was directly exposed to infected poultry. The second known case was reported in March of this year, when a dairy farm worker in Texas contracted the virus from an infected cow.
The virus has killed at least 280 million poultry around the world since 2021, causing the world's sudden largest loss of wild birds in decades.
Experts warn that much more testing and training is needed to protect farmworkers from the disease.
A British Columbia teenager was also recently hospitalized with bird flu, according to Canadian authorities.
