United States: A child in San Francisco has been confirmed as the third human case of bird flu in the U.S., though it’s unclear how they were infected. Since April 2024, 67 cases have been reported across the country, according to the CDC. Most human infections have occurred after people came into contact with infected poultry, cattle, or during culling operations.
Unfortunately, the CDC as well other health experts claim that there is no proof that people can infect other people and the risk is minimal.
Two doctors interviewed by ABC News concur but, given the chronic lack of a definite or uncertain mode of acquiring the virus, there is perhaps some level of underreporting going on.
As reported by the “And reassuring aspects to me here is the child looked to have had moderate disease, recovered and…more kind of mild symptoms,” Dr. Tony Moody, a professor of pediatrics and an infectious diseases physician at Duke University, said to ABC News.
Moody said, “That’s the good news, but then that’s the bad news really, because we don’t know, does this mean there are 10,000 other cases that are out there but have not presented to health care?”
A child in San Francisco was recently confirmed to be the third human case of bird flu in the U.S. https://t.co/esah7DHrnC
— ABC News (@ABC) January 18, 2025
San Francisco health departments initially pointed to the bird flu case on the child, which the CDC later corroborated, earlier in this month.
Fever and irritation in the eyes are some of the signs which the child first showed, and the child has since gained full recovery according to the officials. Police officers said they want to know how the viral disease got into contact with the child.
A representative from the CDC said this is the second child affected by bird flu in the United States and the first case unknown exposure was back in last November in California.
The agency said this is the third time an exposure source has not been identified in a bird flu case while most other cases are directly attributed to exposure by infected livestock.
The new concern that has emerged from the case according to Moody is, it is difficult to know what to make of the case because, even though the CDC has increased surveillance, there are still voids.