The bird flu has consistently been in the news since April, when the H5N1 strain was found to have jumped from wild birds, its typical host, to dairy cows in Texas. Since then, new infections have been reported, including those in dairy cow and poultry workers.
But one case of bird flu in particular has been making more headlines than usual—a Missouri resident tested positive for H5N1 in August, but unlike the 17 other known cases, didn’t have any contact with an infected animal. Since the patient was hospitalized in August, reports have swirled about how the person might have contracted the virus and whether they spread it to people around them. If so, it would be the first known human-to-human transmission reported worldwide since 2007. . .
The CDC is currently testing samples from the patient and the healthcare workers. Results are expected in mid-October, said Brad Hutton, MPH, a clinical professor at the University of Albany School of Public Health and former deputy commissioner for public health in New York State.
These tests will look for H5N1 antibodies, which could indicate human-to-human transmission from the original patient to the healthcare workers or whether another infection, such as COVID-19, caused the symptoms, Hutton told Health.
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