Bird flu infection may be found in California child, health officials say – National
The California Department of Public Health reported that a child with shortness of breath may have had bird flu on Tuesday, but said there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission and that family members of the child had tested positive.
California officials said they have sent the child's test samples to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for verification.
A CDC spokesperson said the agency is aware of the suspected H5 bird flu case, is cooperating with the federal investigation, and will provide more information soon. The agency said the risk to the general public remains low.
Although human infections in the United States have been rare, bird flu has infected 53 people since April, according to the CDC, most recently a person in Oregon was arrested last week in an outbreak of bird flu at a chicken shop in the state.
In Canada, officials earlier this month reported that a teenager who contracted bird flu in British Columbia was in critical condition.
The California child was in preschool with mild symptoms before the illness was reported, the state said.
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Local health officials contacted potentially exposed caregivers and families to check for symptoms and offer preventive treatment and testing if they develop symptoms.
The child and all close family members were treated with preventive medicine, the state said. The child could not have come into contact with an infected animal, but public health experts are investigating possible exposure to wild birds.
“It's natural for people to be concerned, and we want to reassure parents, caregivers and families that based on the information and data we have, we don't think the child was infected,” said California Department of Health Director Dr. Tomas Aragon. , he added, “and no human-to-human transmission of bird flu has been documented in any country for more than 15 years.”
Most of the bird flu cases in the US, including 26 in California, occurred among farm workers who worked with infected chickens or dairy cattle.
Because bird flu viruses can mutate and spread easily between people, California public health officials said they are closely monitoring animal and human infections.
The government urged citizens to avoid contact with sick or dead wild birds, and renewed the warning against consuming raw milk or raw milk products, which have not been pasteurized to inactivate the bird flu virus and other dangerous viruses.
