California declares bird flu state of emergency after Louisiana patient suffers first severe case

4 days ago

The Independent

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California declares bird flu state of emergency after Louisiana patient
suffers first severe case

There are more than 60 human cases of H5N1 bird flu confirmed across the country

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California declared a state of emergency on Wednesday due to the spread of bird flu in the state.

The move is aimed at enhancing its preparedness measures and accelerating cross-agency response efforts, the governor’s office said.

“This proclamation is a targeted action to ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak. Building on California’s testing and monitoring system — the largest in the nation — we are committed to further protecting public health, supporting our agriculture industry, and ensuring that Californians have access to accurate, up-to-date information,” said Governor Gavin Newsom.

“While the risk to the public remains low, we will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of this virus,” he said.

The news comes after health officials announced that a person in Louisiana has the first severe illness caused by bird flu in the nation.

The patient had been around sick and dead birds in backyard flocks.

The individual was not identified and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not immediately detail their symptoms.

Additional testing is underway to examine the virus infecting the patient.

Last week, the Louisiana Department of Health announced the detection in a resident of southwestern Louisiana who had been hospitalized. The case was confirmed by the federal agency on Friday.

“While the current public health risk for the general public is low, people who work with birds, poultry or cows, or have recreational exposure to them, are at higher risk,” the department warned.

This case is the first US human case linked to exposure to a backyard flock. Over the last 30 days, 34 backyard flocks have been affected, according to the Department of Agriculture.

“A sporadic case of severe H5N1 bird flu illness in a person is not unexpected; avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infection has previously been associated with severe human illness in other countries during 2024 and prior years, including illness resulting in death,” the CDC said, advising backyard flock owners, hunters, and other bird enthusiasts to “take precautions.”

There have been more than 60 H5N1 infections reported around the country. More than half of the cases were in California, including in a child. However, health officials have not determined how the child was infected.

A researcher performs a rapid antigen test on milk from a dairy cow inoculated against bird flu in an Iowa research facility last July. Agriculture officials have ordered national milk testing ((USDA Agricultural Research Service via AP, File))

The majority of cases are linked to infected dairy cow herds and poultry.

After detections in raw milk, Agriculture officials said earlier this month that the nation’s milk supply would be subject to testing, which is now underway in multiple states.

There has been no human-to-human virus transmission reported in the US to date.

The highly infectious type of influenza virus has caused mild cases in other states, puzzling health experts. The majority of those infected were farmworkers.

Of the cases reported in the Western Pacific Region from January 2003 through this past September, the World Health Organization says there was a case fatality rate of 54 percent.

With reporting from The Associated Press