Bird Flu Mutated. 65 yo patient in Louisiana in critical condition

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday its analysis of samples from the first severe case of bird flu in the country last week showed mutations not seen in samples from an infected backyard flock on the patient’s property.

The CDC said the patient’s sample showed mutations in the hemagglutinin (HA) gene, the part of the virus that plays a key role in it attaching to host cells.

The agency said the risk to the general public from the outbreak has not changed and remains low.

Last week, the United States reported its first severe case of the virus, in a Louisiana resident above the age of 65, who was suffering from severe respiratory illness.

The patient had been infected with the D1.1 genotype of the virus that had been recently detected in wild birds and poultry in the US, and not the B3.13 genotype detected in dairy cows, humans and some poultry in multiple states.

The mutations seen in the patient are rare but have been reported in some cases in other countries and most often during severe infections. One of the mutations was also seen in another severe case in British Columbia, Canada.

No transmission from the patient in Louisiana to other persons has been identified, said the CDC.

Angela Rasmussen, a virologist who specializes in emerging infectious diseases, said in a post on the social platform X that it was “good news” the changes to the virus weren’t detected in birds, “because it reduces risk of transmission to another person and suggests ‘human-adapted’ viruses aren’t emerging in birds.” 

The Louisiana patient was hospitalized in critical condition with severe respiratory symptoms from bird flu. According to agency officials, the patient had exposure to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks.  

The CDC said the mutations in that patient were similar to ones observed in a hospitalized patient in British Columbia, Canada. The changes may make it easier for the virus to bind to receptors in a person’s upper respiratory tract.

“Although concerning, and a reminder that A(H5N1) viruses can develop changes during the clinical course of a human infection, these changes would be more concerning if found in animal hosts or in early stages of infection … when these changes might be more likely to facilitate spread to close contacts,” the CDC said in the report. “Notably, in this case, no transmission from the patient in Louisiana to other persons has been identified.” 

Health experts said it’s been expected that the virus would mutate, and while there’s a sliver of good news that the changes happened after infection, it’s still concerning. 

9 years ago, a huge migration of world wide birds from the Middle east were found to have Bird Flu. These birds flew all over the world, spreading the disease and infecting other mammals. The Legacy Media and the CDC was virtually quiet when this happened.

Thirteen years ago, Washington asked scientists to censor information about Bird Flu. This puts the blame for this new and emerging pandemic on the shoulders of the Obama and Biden Administration. Dr Fauci also would have been employed with the CDC at the time.

Has the CDC and the censorship of the information about Bird Flu prepared us for the next pandemic?