The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) today said tests have identified a suspected avian flu infection in a child from Alameda County who had mild upper respiratory symptoms and no known contact with infected animals.
If confirmed, the case would mark the second avian flu infection in a child in North America from a yet undetermined source. Last week, health officials in Canada reported an H5N1 infection in a previously healthy British Columbia teen who is hospitalized in critical condition.
Also, if confirmed the California case would mark the second in the United States this year in a person without exposure to sick farm animals. The first was a Missouri patient who tested positive on a respiratory virus panel while hospitalized during the latter part of August. Serologic testing of a household contact showed that person was likely infected by the virus at the same time.
The illness also comes amid a dramatic uptick in poultry outbreaks in states that are along the Pacific flyway at a time when migratory birds that carry the virus are flying south. Also, California continues to battle the virus at dairy farms in the Central Valley.
Low-level detection on positive test; child recovering
The positive test showed a low-level detection, which the CDPH said suggests the child wasn't likely infectious. Repeat tests 4 days later were negative for avian flu, and other testing suggests that the child was positive for other respiratory viruses that could be the cause of the child's cold and flu symptoms.
Specimens have been sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for confirmation testing. If confirmed, the illness would be California’s 27th of the year and its first not linked to sick animals on dairy or poultry farms.
The child has been treated and is recovering at home.
The CDPH, local health officials, and the CDC are investigating the source of the child's illness and assessing possible exposure to wild birds. Alameda County, home to Oakland, is in the San Francisco Bay area, and county officials said there are no commercial dairy herds in the county.
Though the child's close family members also had mild respiratory symptoms, tests were negative for avian flu. However, family members tested positive for the other more common respiratory viruses that the child also had.
Child had been in daycare while symptomatic
Other contacts of the child have been notified and offered treatment out of an abundance of caution, the CDPH said. The child had attended daycare while experiencing symptoms and before the avian flu test was conducted.
Local health officials have notified caregivers and families about health monitoring and the availability of preventive treatment and avian flu testing.
No human-to-human spread of bird flu has been documented in any country for more than 15 years.
Tomas Aragon, MD, DrPH, CDPH director and state public health officer, said, "It's natural for people to be concerned, and we want to reinforce for parents, caregivers and families that based on the information and data we have, we don't think the child was infectious—and no human-to-human spread of bird flu has been documented in any country for more than 15 years."
