Health officials confirmed on Friday that a California child has tested positive for bird flu, marking the first reported case of the illness in a U.S. minor. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that the child, who had mild symptoms, was treated with antiviral medication and is recovering. No further details about the child’s identity were released, other than that they reside in Alameda County, which includes Oakland, and attend daycare.
This case brings the total number of bird flu infections in the United States this year to 55, with 29 cases reported in California, the CDC stated. Most of these cases involved farmworkers who experienced mild symptoms after being exposed to infected poultry or wild birds.
In an unusual case, an adult in Missouri contracted the virus without any known contact with infected animals or working on a farm. The source of their infection remains unclear, though health officials have noted that there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu has been spreading rapidly across the U.S. in recent years, affecting wild birds, poultry, and other animals. The virus began affecting U.S. dairy cattle in March, with California becoming the epicenter of the outbreak. As of August, the state has reported 402 infected herds, making up 65% of the 616 herds confirmed with the virus across 15 states.
California health officials are investigating how the child contracted the virus. In a previous statement, they noted that they were looking into “possible exposure to wild birds,” though no definitive source has been identified.
There is no evidence to suggest that the bird flu spread from the child to other individuals. Members of the child’s household who reported similar symptoms were tested for the virus, but results came back negative. Health officials also indicated that the child and household members tested positive for other common respiratory viruses, suggesting that their symptoms may be linked to those illnesses rather than bird flu.
While the risk of bird flu spreading to humans remains low, health authorities continue to monitor the situation closely.