First US bird flu death is announced in Louisiana
Associated PressNEW YORK — The first U.S. bird flu death has been reported — a person in Louisiana who had been hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms. Since March, 66 confirmed bird flu infections have been reported in the U.S., but previous illnesses have been mild and most have been detected among farmworkers exposed to sick poultry or dairy cows. The bird flu virus “is a serious threat and it has historically been a deadly virus,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health. In a statement, CDC officials described the Louisiana death as tragic but also said “there are no concerning virologic changes actively spreading in wild birds, poultry or cows that would raise the risk to human health.” In two of the recent U.S. cases — an adult in Missouri and a child in California — health officials have not determined how they caught the virus.