Possible H5N1 bird flu case in Marin County is a child; the source of the infection is unknown

Health officials in Marin County are investigating a case of possible H5N1 bird flu in a child.

Officials have been investigating since last week and are working with the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control to determine how the child was exposed.

The information was provided in the Dec.6 “health update” newsletter, and was buried at the end of a section about state-by-state surveillance of the virus, raw milk and a note about a new USDA program designed to test milk nationwide.

If confirmed, this would be the second case of a child with the virus in California.

“It is very worrying that another child may have H5N1. We need to know more about this case, including ideas about how it may have acquired the virus,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University in Providence, RI. comprehensive, including serologic testing, to see if there is evidence of other diseases in the area.”

Last month, health officials announced that a child in Alameda County had the disease. Investigators were unable to determine the source of the exposure. The child had mild respiratory symptoms, and no one else in the child's family or daycare was infected.

State or county health officials did not respond to The Times' questions, and no additional details were provided in the paper.

If confirmed, this would be the 61st human case of bird flu this year. Two lawsuits were announced in Arizona on Friday – both cases involving dairy workers.

This would also be the third case in the US this year where the source of exposure is unknown. In addition to the case of the child in Alameda Co, a person in Missouri was also infected by an unknown source.

Outside the US, a Canadian teenager also contracted the virus – source unknown – and remained in critical condition for three weeks with a serious illness.

Most of the human cases in the United States have involved dairy workers and poultry workers – they were exposed in areas where the virus is known to be present.

So far, most cases of H5N1 bird flu in humans have been mild, involving conjunctivitis, or pink eye, and upper respiratory symptoms.

The researchers will have to analyze the genetic sequence of the virus to determine whether it is a virus in milk or birds.

The wastewater samples were collected by WastewaterScan – an infectious disease monitoring network led by researchers at Stanford and Emory University, and lab testing partner Verily, a life sciences subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. – showed that the virus is very present in the area, including the Marin Co. sites. in San Raphael and Novato.

For two weeks, health and agriculture officials have suspended and recalled raw milk that had hit grocery store shelves across the country.

There have been no known illnesses associated with raw milk, and it is not clear whether people can get the disease from consuming it in milk.

However, several species of mammals have shown severe illness and death after consuming raw milk including cats and rats.

Mark McAfee, owner of the raw milk farm – Raw Farm LLC – told The Times last week that he believed the milk had gone out to 90,000 customers.

Asked how he got that number, he said “Our customers buy every week,,,,it's very reliable. We have 500 stores and based on dollar volume per cash flow it's our best guess.”

The government departments of health and agriculture could not confirm this figure.