The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had announced on Thursday that its analysis of samples from the first severe case of bird flu in the country last week had revealed mutations not seen in samples from an infected backyard flock on the patient’s property.
According to CDC, the patient’s sample revealed mutations in the hemagglutinin (HA) gene, i.e. the part of the virus that plays a vital role in it attaching to host cells.
The health body however, said the risk to the general public from the outbreak has not changed and still remains low.
Last week, the United States government reported it’s first severe case of the virus, in a Louisiana resident above the age of 65, who was ailing from severe respiratory illness.
The patient was infected with the D1.1 genotype of the virus that was newly detected in wild birds and poultry in the United States, and not the B3.13 genotype identified in dairy cows, human cases and some poultry in multiple states.
While the mutations found in the patient are rare, it has been reported in some cases in other countries and most often during serious infections. One of the mutations was also identified in another severe case from British Columbia, Canada.
At the time of tiling this report, the CDC said that no transmission from the patient in Louisiana to other people have been identified.
