The United States has logged its 14th known case of bird flu (H5N1) infection in a human being—the first in which the patient had no known contact with infected animals. Previously, bird flu sufferers have had the virus transmitted to them after working with farm animals, showing it can jump between species. However, close contact with an infected animal was still necessary in those instances. Experts are unsure how the “very concerning” new case was contracted, speculating milk contaminated with H5N1 may be responsible.
Evidence indicates H5N1 transmission from wild birds to cows, cows to cows, and cows to humans. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), human-to-human transmission could result in a COVID-19-style pandemic.
The CDC currently assesses the overall risk to the public as low, noting that contact tracing identified no additional cases. The patient, who has underlying health conditions, received antiviral treatment and has since recovered and been discharged.
Nevertheless, the Biden-Harris government is already preparing to invest millions of dollars in an mRNA vaccine for bird flu, with the federal Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in talks with Pfizer.
In June, former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield expressed concern that reckless gain-of-function research could produce a particularly deadly bird flu strain. The U.S. government has been funding such research despite the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, although belated efforts to stop this are now underway.
