A person was admitted to the hospital following a severe case of bird flu in Louisiana, USA, as reported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday.
Authorities have documented 61 cases of avian flu transmission in the United States, with the latest patient having contact with infected birds on a farm.
The specifics of the situation, which were verified on Friday, were not revealed, and their future outcome is uncertain.
Genetic analysis showed that the patient’s H5N1 virus was of the D1.1 genotype, which has been found in wild and domestic birds in the United States, as well as in individuals in Washington state and British Columbia, Canada.
Genotype D1.1 differs from B3.13, which was found in dairy cows and caused a few outbreaks in birds and humans with mild symptoms like conjunctivitis.
Some cases in the US did not result from contact with an animal, but health officials think it is premature to indicate human-to-human transmission.
The CDC believes that the risk to the general public is minimal.
In March, there was an initial report of a severe avian flu outbreak, known as H5N1, in multiple states.