Louisiana resident becomes first American to fall seriously ill with H5N1 bird flu as fears of pandemic grow

An American has been hospitalized with a serious case of bird flu, the first case in the country.

The patient is located in Louisiana and investigators say he likely contracted the disease after handling sick and dead birds in a backyard poultry flock.

No further details about their symptoms have been revealed other than that they are ‘severely ill’ with the virus.

The CDC sent out an alert about the case and tests showed the patient had the D1.1 strain – linked to wild birds and poultry and which also hospitalized a teenager in Canada earlier this year. It is different from the strain that infects cattle.

A total of 61 people have been diagnosed with H5N1 in the US this year, mostly with mild symptoms such as ‘pink eye’, and one other was previously hospitalized, a Missouri resident who also had underlying conditions. No deaths have been reported.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow…