The brand new case brings the overall variety of infections in the USA in the course of the present 2024 outbreak to 61, with different sufferers experiencing gentle signs they recovered from at house.
The severity of the Louisiana case has heightened alarm, echoing related instances worldwide. Final month, a young person in Canada was additionally hospitalized with a extreme case of hen flu.
In response to the US Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC), the Louisiana affected person was uncovered to sick and lifeless birds in yard flocks. Nonetheless, no further particulars, together with the person’s prognosis, have been disclosed.
“Over the 20-plus years of world expertise with this virus, H5 an infection has beforehand been related to extreme sickness in different nations, together with diseases that resulted in dying in as much as 50 p.c of instances,” Demetre Daskalakis, a senior CDC official advised reporters on a name.
“The demonstrated potential for this virus to trigger extreme sickness in individuals continues to spotlight the significance of the joint… US federal response,” he added.