https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/27/health/bird-flu-cluster-missouri.html

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Possible Cluster of Human Bird-Flu Infections Expands in Missouri

Seven people in contact with a patient hospitalized with bird flu
also developed symptoms, the C.D.C. reported. Some are undergoing
further tests.

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A close-up view of the H5N1 virus under a microscope.
There have been 13 other confirmed cases of H5N1 bird flu in people
since the outbreak in dairy cattle was announced in March.Credit...
Cynthia Goldsmith/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Apoorva MandavilliEmily Anthes

By Apoorva Mandavilli and Emily Anthes

Sept. 27, 2024

A possible cluster of bird-flu infections in Missouri has grown to
include eight people, in what may be the first examples of
person-to-person transmission in the United States, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday.

If confirmed, the cases in Missouri could indicate that the virus may
have acquired the ability to infect people more easily. Worldwide,
clusters of bird flu among people are extremely rare. Most cases have
resulted from close contact with infected birds.

Health officials in Missouri initially identified a patient with bird
flu who was hospitalized last month with unusual symptoms. The
patient may have infected one household member and six health care
workers, all of whom developed symptoms, according to the C.D.C.

Investigators have not yet confirmed whether any of those seven
individuals were infected with the virus, called H5N1, leaving open
the possibility that they had Covid or some other illness with
flulike symptoms.

Still, the news alarmed experts.

"We should be very concerned at this point," said Dr. James Lawler,
co-director of the University of Nebraska's Global Center for Health
Security.

"Nobody should be hitting the panic button yet, but we should really
be devoting a lot of resources into figuring out what's going on."

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