Human bird flu case confirmed in Missouri by CDC

COLJUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday confirmed a case of H5 bird flu, a press release from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services says.

The release did not say the name of the county of where the case was reported. The case was identified through the DHSS’ influenza surveillance program, and was the first H5 case nationally that detected from a flu surveillance system, the release says.

“Missouri’s flu surveillance system involves a collaborative partnership between clinical laboratories, Missouri health care providers, local public health agencies and the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory. DHSS continues to closely monitor available data from influenza surveillance systems, and there has been no sign of unusual influenza activity in people, including no increase in emergency room visits for influenza and no increase in laboratory detection of human influenza cases in Missouri,” the release says.

The patient who tested positive was hospitalized on Aug. 22 and had tested positive for influenza A, the release says. They had no exposure to animals, eventually recovered and were discharged, the release says.