THE TELEGRAPH – Seven people fell ill with flu-like symptoms after contact with someone infected with H5N1, raising fears that the virus has spread between humans for the first time in the United States.
Health authorities are rushing to investigate the possibility of human-to-human transmission, with the cluster of potential cases centred around a patient who was confirmed to have H5N1 last month and was later sent to hospital.
Among those affected are several healthcare workers and one of their household contacts, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement.
Health officials in Missouri said six healthcare workers developed mild respiratory symptoms resembling avian influenza after treating the patient.
Of those, only one was tested for influenza using PCR, and the results came back negative.
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The remaining five healthcare workers’ symptoms resolved before testing could be conducted. They have since provided blood samples to the CDC to check for H5N1 antibodies, which would indicate prior infection with the virus.
Overall, at least 94 healthcare workers had some contact with the sick patient, Missouri state officials said.
Although there have been reports of human-human transmission of H5N1 in the past, it’s extremely rare and has caused alarm among those monitoring the US outbreak.
‘It’s definitely concerning’
H5N1 – a highly infectious form of bird flu with a death rate of up to 55 per cent – has been spreading in US dairy cattle since December of last year.
Usually found in birds, the virus has infected more than 200 cattle herds across the country, indicating it is becoming better at infecting mammals.
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Scientists have been urging the US government to get the spread of H5N1 under control quickly – so that it does not have the opportunity to ‘jump’ to humans and adapt to spread between them.