Officials are preparing for increased risks of the H5N1 bird flu virus rising this autumn and trying to stop it before it can become a pandemic, CNN reported Sept. 12.
On Sept. 9, the CDC reported a bird flu case in a Missouri patient without contact with animals. The patient was hospitalized and tested positive for bird flu Aug. 22. That person has since recovered and returned home, but the CDC has yet to find how the infection occurred.
Opportunities for H5N1 to spread and mutate are growing with flu virus season approaching.
"To be clear, we have no evidence so far that this virus can easily infect human beings or that it can spread between human beings easily in a sustained fashion," Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPh, director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health in Providence, R.I., told CNN. "The second we know that someone gave it to someone else relatively easily, that's a new pandemic, and it will be around the globe, probably in a matter of weeks. Seeing that someone is in the hospital with possible H5N1 heightens my worry."
The first cows were infected with H5N1 in Texas and Kansas in late March. Since then, wastewater testing has picked up H5 viruses in nine states.
Viruses go through a number of stages before a pandemic emerges. They begin by infecting animals first, then isolated spillover infections in humans, the localized clusters of human infections before widespread transmission among people occurs. The easiest stage to prevent disease development and spread is during the second stage of isolated infections in humans. But Adam Kucharski, PhD, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Tropical Hygiene, said U.S. officials are not doing enough in prevention efforts to impact potential spread.
The CDC classifies H5N1 virus as a low threat, but federal agencies are working to mitigate infections. In September, the CDC awarded $5 million to five commercial laboratories to develop tests to detect H5 viruses: Labcorp, Quest Diagnostics, Aegis Sciences Corp., Ginkgo Bioworks and ARUP Laboratories.