An investigation into an ongoing human H5N1 bird flu infection in Missouri has turned up four additional health care workers who developed mild respiratory symptoms after caring for a patient at a hospital in August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. reported on the day.
It is unclear whether any of these people were actually infected with H5N1. They were not examined while they were ill. But the fact that they became ill after caring for this patient raises fears of person-to-person spread of the virus — a possibility that flu experts say needs further exploration. Testing their blood for H5N1 antibodies should answer the question.
“CDC continues to closely monitor available data from influenza surveillance systems, particularly in affected states, and has not seen any signs of unusual influenza activity in the public, including in Missouri,” the agency said in its statement. said in an update posted on the website.
The CDC continues to characterize the risk to the general public from the H5N1 pandemic as “low.”
In the more than a quarter century that H5N1 bird flu has been circulating, there have been rare cases when it is thought to have spread from person to person. But ongoing transmission involving multi-generational cases has never been found.
This is the third time Missouri has disclosed that it has found health workers with flu-like illness after treating an undiagnosed H5N1 patient. The infected person was hospitalized from Aug. 22 to Aug. 25, Lisa Cox, director of communications for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, told STAT via email.
So far a total of seven people who were in contact with the confirmed case have been identified as sick – one family member and six health workers. A health worker tested negative for influenza while he was sick.
The fact that the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is still finding individuals weeks after an H5N1 patient was released from the hospital raises concerns about the accuracy of the investigation the state is conducting. The CDC cannot send investigators to a state unless its assistance is requested, and that did not happen.
“Public health credibility is really on the line here,” Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, told STAT.
Osterholm, who has served as Minnesota’s state epidemiologist for 15 years, is concerned about how long it will take for Missouri to determine who may have contracted the disease, if it actually spread from the original patient. to be
Of the newly identified health care workers, one had been exposed to a patient before taking precautions to prevent the spread of respiratory disease, a condition the CDC described as putting the person at higher risk than other health care workers. was at high risk. sick
Blood samples were collected from five healthcare workers who became ill after caring for the patient, Cox said, adding that they will be sent to the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters as soon as safe shipping is ensured, from Hurricane Helen. Referring to the confusion caused. She noted that follow-up interviews with 94 healthcare workers who had contact with the patient after infection control measures were implemented “are nearing completion.”
It was previously revealed that a family relation of the individual fell ill on the same day as the person admitted to the hospital. But this second person was not tested while he was ill. The CDC is currently studying a blood sample from a second individual to look for antibodies to H5N1 influenza. It also analyzes a blood sample from a confirmed case.
The Missouri case is one of 14 detected in the U.S. this year, while the state has been plagued by an H5N1 outbreak in dairy cattle that was first identified in late March.
As of Friday, 239 flocks in 14 states had tested positive for H5N1, although this is an underestimate of the true extent of the outbreak. Missouri is not among the states that have reported dairy herd infestations.
Many farmers have refused to test their animals and a few states have forced the issue. The exceptions are Colorado, which conducts bulk tank testing on dairy farms, and California, which conducts bulk tank testing on farms that are located near or interact with affected dairies. Since the outbreak began, Colorado has found 64 infected herds. California, which announced its first positive herd in late August, has so far confirmed 41 affected farms.
This article has been updated with information from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
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