Bird Flu Virus Likely Mutated In US Patient Who Contracted Severe Case: What Does This Mean?

Last Updated:December 28, 2024, 12:16 IST

Health experts said while the new finding is concerning, it is not a cause for alarm as the virus has been causing sporadic, mostly mild illnesses in people, and nearly all infected worked on dairy or poultry farms

A colourised transmission electron micrograph of avian influenza A H5N1 virus particles (in blue). (Image: Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/AFP)

Known to be causing cat infections across the United States, the bird flu virus has mutated inside a patient in Louisiana who contracted the country’s first severe case of the illness. This week, the CDC said the new development surfaced after a genetic analysis of a person older than 65 years.

According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the person was hospitalised in critical condition with severe respiratory symptoms from bird flu after coming in contact with sick and dead birds in a backyard flock. Earlier this month, officials said the patient had not yet been identified and has underlying medical problems.

But, what does this new finding mean? Let’s find out.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE VIRUS MUTATES?

According to a report published by The Associated Press, scientists believe the mutations may allow the virus to better bind to receptors in the upper airways of humans.

Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious disease researcher, likened this binding interaction to a lock and key. To enter a cell, the virus needs to have a key that turns the lock, and this finding means the virus may be changing to have a key that might work.

“Is this an indication that we may be closer to seeing a readily transmitted virus between people? No," Osterholm said. “Right now, this is a key that sits in the lock, but it doesn’t open the door."

IS THIS MUTATION A CAUSE FOR ALARM?

Experts said while the new finding is concerning, it is not a cause for alarm. The virus has been causing sporadic, mostly mild illnesses in people in the US, and nearly all of those infected worked on dairy or poultry farms.

The CDC stressed there has been no known transmission of the virus from the Louisiana patient to anyone else. The agency said its findings about the mutations were “concerning", but the risk to the general public from the outbreak “has not changed and remains low".

Still, Osterholm said, scientists should continue to follow what is happening with mutations carefully. “There will be additional influenza pandemics and they could be much worse than we saw with Covid," he said. “We know that the pandemic clock is ticking. We just don’t know what time it is."

(With agency inputs)

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

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