NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials on Thursday said they don’t know how a Missouri person caught bird flu but believe it may be a rare instance of a “one-off” standalone illness.
Investigators trying to determine how the person caught the virus have not been able to confirm the exact strain of flu.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said the risk to the general public remains low. The Missouri case raised questions about the possibility of human-to-human bird flu transmission, but officials said there is no evidence of other people being infected.
“Right now, evidence points to this being a one-off case,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, CDC principal deputy director.
Unusual flu strains that come from animals are occasionally found in people. This year alone, health officials identified seven human cases of swine flu in the U.S., officials said. But this is the first time the surveillance system detected an avian flu like this.
The H5N1 bird flu has been spreading widely among wild birds, poultry, cows and a growing number of other animals. Its growing presence in the environment increases the chances that people will be exposed, and potentially catch it, Shah said.