State health officials announced the first bird flu death in Louisiana on Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent confirmed the bird flu death was the nation’s first. AP News states, “Health officials have said the person was older than 65, had underlying medical problems and had been in contact with sick and dead birds in a backyard flock. They also said a genetic analysis had suggested the bird flu virus had mutated inside the patient, which could have led to the more severe illness.” 66 confirmed bird flu infections have been reported since March in the U.S, in a article by AP News, “Previous illnesses have been mild and most have been detected among farmworkers exposed to sick poultry or dairy cows.” Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health states “The bird flu is a serious threat and it has historically been a deadly virus,” she also states, “This is just a tragic reminder of that.” The first human case of bird flu that was detected in the U.S. was nearly nine months ago, the virus has continued to spread since. ABC News states, “The outbreak infected hundreds of herds and millions of birds before it spread to humans. As of January 6, there had been 66 human cases of bird flu reported in 10 states, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).” According to ABC news, “Almost all confirmed cases involve direct contact with infected cattle or infected livestock.” Public Health experts are worried that the virus could mutate and become more transmissible.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/1st-bird-flu-death-reported-us-happen-virus/story?id=117417561

https://apnews.com/article/bird-flu-death-louisiana-82e4d00876e62cb2b13bb621826c84f9