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Medicine United States

CDC Confirms First Human Case of Severe Bird Flu In US 49

The CDC has confirmed the first case of severe bird flu in the United States. NPR reports: Louisiana health officials initially reported the infection last week, saying a person was hospitalized after being exposed to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks. On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared their findings that indicate the H5N1 virus responsible for the illness belongs to a genetic lineage that's circulating in wild birds and poultry -- different from what's spreading in dairy cattle and driving the majority of infections in agricultural workers.

In the U.S., more than 60 people have been infected so far, although some research suggests the official tally may be an undercount. The illnesses linked to dairy cattle have largely led to mild illnesses in humans.

The version of the virus in the Louisiana case is the so-called "D1.1 genotype." It has previously popped up in poultry workers in Washington state, who developed mild symptoms after testing positive in October. More recently, however, a teenager in British Columbia was hospitalized after contracting this D1.1 strain of the virus. Canadian health officials were unable to figure out how that person was infected.
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis with the CDC, told reporters on Wednesday that bird blu has a well-established history of leading to severe illness and death. He added: "Infections without a clear source of exposure do occur, neither these cases nor the cases with known animal or animal products exposure have resulted in human to human transmission." California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency as the H5N1 bird flu virus moves from the Central valley to Southern California herds. The declaration will allow for a more streamlined approach among state and local agencies to tackle the virus, providing "flexibility around staffing, contracting, and other rules to support California's evolving response,'" reports the Los Angeles Times, citing a statement from Newsom's office.

"Building on California's testing and monitoring system -- the largest in the nation -- we are committed to further protecting public health, supporting our agriculture industry, and ensuring that Californians have access to accurate, up-to-date information," said Newsom in a statement. "While the risk to the public remains low, we will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of this virus."

Further reading:
US Government Orders Nationwide Testing of Milk for Bird Flu to Stop the Virus's Spread
Bird Flu Fears Stoke the Race for an mRNA Flu Vaccine

CDC Confirms First Human Case of Severe Bird Flu In US

Comments Filter:
  • by Anonymous Coward
    You may get another go-around in 2025! Hook the PS5 back up in the home office and clear your schedule!
    • I can waste time at the office just as easily.

      • I waste *way* more time in office then when I was left alone to work from home.

        But that's not the point, the point is to keep commercial real estate values up and to do stealth layoffs.
    • weirdly our office had a larger big screen, couches and multiple gaming consoles.. plus beer in the fridge... we weirdly got more accomplished working from home and never used the stuff at the offices... but did have team gaming nights (after work) between management and staff playing video games to relax even pre-wfh.

      Staff were happier, clients were scoring us with higher satisfaction scores... revenue and profits all saw record high increases... and so was team engagement and retention...

      If you trust your

      • The absolute best company I worked for did exactly this, until it got bought out. WFH just worked, and from all measures, there was effectively zero change between when people were at the office versus when people were at home. Of course, the 2020 transition was bumpy, but the BCP plan had it in place where all employees had good laptops under warranty just in case of a disaster. No Big Brother spying, not even staring at Event Viewer logs. You can tell who is performing and who isn't without any of tha

      • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        Yeah, none of that is important. For people like the OP the misery is the point. It might be because they're authoritarians who think it's good for everyone to be bossed around and to obey. They might be religious types who think it makes you a better person, or more godly, or not a papist. Most likely they were just raised by one of those, or their parents were, and they soaked up the attitude without ever thinking about where it came from or why they feel that way.

  • Trump to take office. Ladies and gentlemen, grab your popcorn.
  • Oh no, a major pandemic! We can't possibly transfer power to Trump now, time to impose marital law!

    • Just the reverse. The Deep State will want Trump in power as soon as possible, with Kennedy in charge of public health.

      It's time to thin the American herd...weed out the weak and the stupid. What better way than to make sure vaccines are hard to get and easy to avoid.

      • It's time to thin the American herd...weed out the weak and the stupid. What better way than to make sure vaccines are hard to get and easy to avoid.

        No that's the exact opposite of what the Republicans want. Thin the herd by getting rid of anyone with half a brain, like those pesky scientists with their Climate Change facts. Need the populace to be stupid and easy to control. Will make it easier to get rid of Social Security and invest tax revenue into crypto.

      • We all know it's a hoax because birds aren't real.
    • ...time to impose marital law!

      I'd think imposing martial law would be more appropriate but... whatever works to maintain order. Now that I've made fun of a typo I'm sure I'll make some of my own.

      With the mixed messages and overblown restrictions from COVID-19 I suspect that far fewer people are willing to tolerate Pandemic 2: Electric Boogaloo. I expect masking mandates to go over like a turd in a punch bowl. Maybe we can get a vaccine developed in record time like with COVID but don't expect many people to be willing to get it. I

      • and overblown restrictions from COVID-19

        Those restrictions are what kept the death toll to only 1.2 million people. Had nothing been done and people left to their own it is guaranteed the toll would have been twice as high, if not three times. And that would just be the dead. The number of people filling hospitals for treatment would have overwhelmed the entire system. If you thought businesses had a hard time with those limited restrictions, imagine them trying to exist when their customers can't come

    • by skam240 ( 789197 )

      Only modern Republicans have any kind of track record for trying to disrupt the transfer of power. Notice how there is no widespread doubting of election results by Democrats? But go ahead, keep believing the other side HAS to be worse despite having no evidence. "Evidence" being so 20th century for modern Republicans.

    • Marital law? Does that mean assigned spouses?

    • So you are not just a apple worshipping whackjob.
    • by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      Seconded! Build a wall around 'Lago and make Don pay for it!

  • we just put a genius in charge and the leader of the Fauci ouchi is retiring.

    Now if RFK jr can just get rid of the pesky Polio vaccine...
    • by skam240 ( 789197 )

      I've always resented vaccines for not allowing for my freedom to be killed or crippled by Polio.

      • No joke. I found out recently I wasn't vaccinated against Measles. My mom was a nutter and I suspected so I got checked.

        Polio is harder. I haven't been able to find a lab that can test me.
        • by skam240 ( 789197 )

          Ha, family. We dont get to chose them or their beliefs.

          Is there some sort of down side to being vaccinated for polio a second time? You do you of course but with the increasing numbers of unvaccinated kids I know I take at least a little relief in the fact that at least I've had my shots.

  • What are you waiting for?
  • On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency "to streamline and expedite the stateâ(TM)s response" to bird flu. There have been 33 cases of human bird flu confirmed in California this year, according to the CDC.

    With more than 35 million residents in California, the risk is literally less than one in a million, and the governor is already declaring a state of emergency!

    It's one thing to lament the online conspiracy theorists, but quite another when the governor makes c

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      He needs to declare a state of emergency before he can mobilize the National Guard (that's in the state constitution). Funny how this is *right* before Trump's inauguration.
      • by skam240 ( 789197 )

        And a month from now when nothing happens in regards to this will you learn a lesson or will you just invent a new fiction to try to demonize the other side with?

        Never mind the fact that California mobilizing its national guard would do absolutely nothing to halt the coming transfer of power.

      • Can you enlighten me why a state on the complete opposite side of the country would need the national guard on inauguration day? Not like we're going to have another January 6th.

      • Nice troll. Do you have evidence that Newsome is planning to fly them all to Washington to attempt a Trump-style coup?

    • by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Wednesday December 18, 2024 @07:30PM (#65023773)

      Don't know what declaring a state of emergency means, do ya? It doesn't mean what you think it means. The declaration is exactly what you quoted. It expedites the state's response to a situation. Normally disparate organizations who don't interact all that much would come together as one unit and combine their efforts. It streamlines processes and allows for faster response to a situation than otherwise would normally exist. Here is a description [ncdps.gov] of what it means to declare a state of emergency.

      • Your points are correct, but declaring a state of emergency also brings in federal funding to help with the situation (as your link mentions). This is almost certainly the reason the governor declared a state of emergency. I can't say I disagree with him on that decision.
    • by test321 ( 8891681 ) on Wednesday December 18, 2024 @07:55PM (#65023837)

      Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, daily news are wondering while the US take so long to react. Here one paper 'America's handling of the bird flu crisis is putting, and will continue to put, the entire world at risk' https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opin... [lemonde.fr] (paywalled, but first paragraphs readable; English version for your convenience).

How many hardware guys does it take to change a light bulb? "Well the diagnostics say it's fine buddy, so it's a software problem."

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