A hospital patient in Missouri is the first person in the US to test positive for bird flu with no known exposure to dairy herds or other animals associated with the ongoing nationwide outbreak.
Officials with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services confirmed that the person—the 14th to have sickened with the virus since March—was admitted to hospital on 22 August with other medical conditions.
In hospital, the person tested positive for influenza A, which CDC officials confirmed to be bird flu.
The person received antiviral medication and has since recovered and gone home. It’s unclear whether the hospitalization was caused by the bird flu infection or the person’s existing health conditions.
No further details of the case have been released by the CDC. No close contacts of the person have been infected.
Officials are now investigating how the person contracted the virus, since all previously recorded infections have been among individuals known to have been in close contact with infected animals, on dairy and poultry farms.
Bird flu has now been detected in nearly 200 dairy herds in 14 states, but not Missouri.
The case is also the first to be detected by means of routine surveillance and testing, rather than monitoring of groups, especially farm workers, deemed to be at high risk of infection.