A southwest Louisiana resident is the first person in the United States to die from the bird flu. State health officials say the patient was over 65 years old and had underlying health conditions and contracted the virus through exposure to a backyard flock of wild birds.
“As far as we know it’s only been cases associated with known animals,” said LSU School Veterinary Medicine Associate Professor Rebecca Christofferson.
Christofferson says the overall public health risk is low, individuals working with birds, poultry, or livestock face higher exposure risks. To prevent H5N1 infection, people should avoid contact with sick or dead birds and their droppings and keep pets away from contaminated animals.
“So, all the things you would do to protect yourself in raspatory virus season anyway. Washing your hands, paying attention to who you’re around.”
Christofferson says workers in poultry or dairy farming are advised to get a seasonal flu vaccine to reduce the risk of co-infection with influenza viruses, though it does not protect against avian flu.
“One of the things we worry about is that if someone were to get H5N1, the bird flu and be infected with the human flu that then becomes an opportunity for you to become a mixing vessel and produce something that could potentially be more transmissible or more dangerous.”
