The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday confirmed the first case of a child in the United States testing positive for H5N1 bird flu.
According to the CDC, the child lives in California and is recovering from their illness.
Before the CDC's confirmation, the California Department of Health reported earlier this week that a child who lives in Alameda County in the East Bay had tested positive for the H5N1 virus.
An investigation by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) into the how the child was exposed to H5N1 is ongoing.
"During CDPH's investigation, all household members reported having symptoms and specimens were collected from those people," the CDC said Friday of the investigation related to the child. "All test results from members of the household were negative for H5 bird flu, and some family members were positive for the same common respiratory viruses as the child."
The California child's case was detected through influenza testing and reported to CDPH through influenza surveillance, the CDC reported. The health agency said that this is the second U.S. case identified through national surveillance and noted it continues to closely monitor available data from influenza surveillance systems, especially in states affected by H5N1 outbreaks in animals.
California has seen large outbreaks of bird flu in wild birds and domestic poultry since 2022 and dairy cattle since August 2024.
What Is Bird Flu?
Concerns over the bird flu comes after an outbreak in the U.S. in multiple states of the virus in mid-March, with several infections in dairy and poultry workers being detected in the months that followed.
Bird flu viruses may spread from infected birds to other animals and humans. While bird flu infections among humans are rare, the virus can spread if it gets into a person's eyes, nose or mouth, or if it is inhaled.
What Are the Symptoms of Bird Flu?
The public is encouraged to watch for symptoms of influenza-like illness, particularly if they have been in contact with sick or dead animals within the past 10 days, and to inform their health care provider of any such exposure.
In humans, bird flu can range in severity from no symptoms to mild symptoms like eye infections or upper respiratory illness. In severe cases, bird flu can cause pneumonia.
What's the Risk of Being Infected With Bird Flu?
"CDC's risk assessment for the general public is low," the agency said in a Friday statement. "However, people with exposure to infected or potentially infected animals, such as birds, dairy cattle, or other animals (including livestock), or to environments contaminated by infected birds or other animals, are at higher risk of infection.
"CDC recommends avoiding unprotected exposures to sick or dead animals, including wild birds, poultry, other domesticated birds, and other wild or domesticated animals (including cows)."
Update 11/22/24 2:57 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include more information.
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