The Louisiana Division of Well being stated on Monday {that a} U.S. affected person hospitalized with H5N1 fowl flu has died, the nation’s first dying from an outbreak of the virus that has sickened dozens of individuals and tens of millions of poultry and cattle.
Almost 70 folks within the U.S. have contracted fowl flu since April, in line with the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, most of them livestock employees uncovered to sick chickens or dairy cattle.
The affected person in Louisiana, the primary particular person within the nation to be hospitalized with the virus, contracted fowl flu after publicity to a mixture of yard chickens and wild birds, stated Louisiana well being officers. The affected person was hospitalized on Dec. 18, 2024, state well being officers stated.
The affected person was over 65 and had underlying medical situations, the officers stated.
“Whereas the present public well being danger for most people stays low, individuals who work with birds, poultry or cows, or have leisure publicity to them, are at larger danger,” the department said in an announcement.
The CDC didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
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