Mystery Illness Strikes: Bird Flu Without Farm Exposure Raises Alarm! 

United States: The case of a Missouri hospital patient who developed avian flu five weeks ago has stumped disease sleuths and puzzled public health officials. 

The patient did not come in contact with animals that transmit the virus and became the first documented US case of a person who got infected by the avian influenza strain known as H5N1, not from the farm sector. 

This spring, the virus was found in animals for the first time: dairy cows; fears for another pandemic and human-to-human transmission. 

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The same day, a member of the patient’s household got sick. Also, six employees in the health facilities developed mild respiratory signs and symptoms, including cough and sore throat, after they came into close contact with the patient, the Washington Post reported. 

Demetre C. Daskalakis, who is a top CDC official who was involved in the response 

George Turabelidze, Missouri’s state epidemiologist who is heading the investigation, said in his first detailed interview that follow-up tests could show whether the patient, who has since gotten better, actually had bird flu, though a test came positive.  

Mystery Illness Strikes: Bird Flu Without Farm Exposure Raises Alarm! Credit | AP

Demetre C. Daskalakis, a top CDC official involved in the response, said the likelihood of bird flu transmission in the Missouri cases “is extremely low,” and testing is being done out of an abundance of caution. 

According to Daskalakis, who is the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, “This is not a cluster,” Washington Post reported. 

What more are the experts stating?

George Turabelidze, Missouri’s state epidemiologist who is leading the investigation, explained that the sensory presented patient never had the typical symptoms, and the patient was not exposed to the vectors known today. 

The patient does not work, travel, or use public transportation and is mostly confined at home due to his chronic medical ailment and age, he stressed. 

Turabelidze notes that the illnesses that manifested themselves in the patient’s contacts may be due to the effects of typical germs, including coronavirus.  

Mystery Illness Strikes: Bird Flu Without Farm Exposure Raises Alarm! Credit | AP

The patient had no exposure to animals that carry the virus — and is now the first known US case of a person who contracted the avian influenza strain known as H5N1 without working on a farm. 

The blood samples reached at the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters hold answers to several questions. Moreover, researchers would search for antibodies to learn whether the patient and the people who were exposed had H5N1 infections.  

According to the health official, “Sometimes people jump to judgment without having enough information … And we should know everything soon enough,” the Washington Post reported. 

According to Lenny Jones, director of the Missouri section of Service Employees International Union Healthcare, “First and foremost, there needs to be transparent sharing from the CDC on exactly what’s taking place,” and “The sooner that we can be part of those conversations to know how we can help spread the message to our members, the better.”