First Severe Case of Human Bird Flu Confirmed in U.S.
- by Amber Baker
- Published
- Infections
Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have confirmed diagnosis of the first severe human case of “bird flu” or H5N1 avian influenza. They determined that the hospitalized patient, a resident of Louisiana, was exposed to “sick and dead birds in backyard flocks,” although the source of the infection in the state remains ongoing. This case is added to the 61 other reported human cases of bird flu in the U.S. but it is the first linked to sick and dead birds in the backyard of a home.1
The patient, who is over 65 with chronic medical conditions, was hospitalized in critical condition. So far, H5N1 avian influenza cases in the U.S. detected in humans have generally been mild, with symptoms that include conjunctivitis and upper respiratory symptoms. “While the current public health risk for the general public is low, people who work with birds, poultry or cows, or have recreational exposure to them, are at higher risk,” officials at Lousiana’s health department added.1
USDA Enacts Testing Mandate, California Declares Bird Flu State of Emergency
After the diagnosis of the first severe case of bird flu in a human in the U.S., California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a public health emergency in the state. He said that it would help “ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak.”
Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a federal order to test the nation’s milk supply for contamination with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The mandate comes as infectious disease experts worry about the potential for human-to-human transmission, which could trigger a bird flu pandemic. The USDA said the purpose of the milk testing mandate, similar to mandates that were enacted after the COVID-19 pandemic declaration in 2020, are focused on contact tracing efforts to “identify where the disease is present, monitor trends, and help states identify potentially affected herds.”2
“Among many outcomes, this will give farmers and farmworkers better confidence in the safety of their animals and ability to protect themselves, and it will put us on a path to quickly controlling and stopping the virus’ spread nationwide,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a prepared statement.2
Former CDC Director Warned of ‘Imminent Bird Flu Pandemic’
As the H5N1 influenza virus infected U.S. cattle herds earlier this year, former CDC director of the CDC Robert Redfield, who led the agency between 2018 and 2021, issued a warning in June 2024 that a bird flu pandemic is inevitable. Dr. Redfield expressed concern about the increasing number of human infections and said he believed that, while the avian virus currently lacks the ability for human-to-human transmission, a mutation could pave the way for widespread infection of and transmission between humans.3
World Health Organization (WHO) officials are warning that the H5N1 virus poses a more significant risk to humans compared to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They point out that the case fatality rate (CFR) for H5N1 avian influenza infections in humans have historically ranged from 20 percent to 60 percent. Redfield agrees and in June 2024 he said:
I really do think it’s very likely that we will, at some time, it’s not a question of if, it’s more a question of when, we will have a bird flu pandemic.3
Goal of NIH-Funded Gain-of-Function Research is to Turn “Bird Flu” Virus Into One That Infects Humans
The recent developments with the H5N1 virus underscore the inherent risks of gain-of-function (GOF) research. In 2012, two scientists in the Netherlands conducted GOF research, aiming to turn “bird flu,” which does not normally infect people, into an influenza virus that does infect people.4
GOF research involves purposefully altering pathogens to enhance their transmissibility, virulence, or host range to better understand how they evolve and cause disease. This research is used to develop vaccines and treatments, but carries risks of accidental release or misuse, potentially leading to outbreaks.
Mounting evidence suggests that COVID may have originated from a lab leak in Wuhan, China, where similar GOF experiments were conducted. GOF research for both the bird flu and COVID has received support and funding from two of the most prominent scientists in the United States: Francis Collins, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).5
Redfield explained that for H5N1 avian influenza to spread between humans, five specific amino acids must mutate—a concern he voiced back in 2012 when he joined hundreds of other experts in opposing dangerous GOF experiments on H5N1. “I know exactly what amino acids I have to change because in 2012, against my recommendation, the scientists that did these experiments actually published them. So, the recipe for how to make bird flu highly infectious for humans is already out there.”3
Although a moratorium on GOF research involving the H5N1 avian influenza virus was imposed on scientists in the U.S. due to concerns about potential human transmissibility, seven years later, in 2019, a panel of scientists—with the government’s blessing—approved the resumption of the controversial research. There were protests against the GOF research by other scientists.
“I can’t allow this to go unchallenged,” one of the signatories, Steven Salzberg, PhD, a biologist and computer scientist, stated in a 2019 published article. He said:
This research is so potentially harmful, and offers such little benefit to society, that I fear that NIH is endangering the trust that Congress places in it. And don’t misinterpret me: I’m a huge supporter of NIH, and I’ve argued before that it’s one of the best investments the American public can make. But they got this one really, really wrong.4
H5N1 Influenza Virus is “One of the Deadliest Strains of Avian Flu”
Dr. Salzberg goes on to highlight the dangers of avian influenza, making the link between the 1918 influenza pandemic that was caused by an H1N1 influenza virus “with genes of avian origin,” according to the CDC.6
“For those who might not know, the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed between 50 and 100 million people worldwide (three percent of the entire world population at the time), was caused by a strain of avian influenza that made the jump into humans. The 1918 flu was so deadly that it “killed more American soldiers and sailors during World War I than did enemy weapons,” said Salzberg.4
He added:
One of the deadliest strains of avian flu circulating today is H5N1. This strain has occasionally jumped from birds to humans, with a mortality rate approaching 50 percent, far more deadly than any human flu. The virus has never gained the ability to be transmitted directly between humans.4
That is, until the GOF research began in 2012.
Salzberg suggested in 2019 that Congress should intervene to stop bird flu GOF research:
I can’t quite fathom why NIH seems to be so enraptured with the work of these two labs that, rather than simply deny them funding, it has ignored the warnings of hundreds of scientists and now risks creating a new influenza pandemic. Much as I hate to say this, maybe it’s time for Congress to intervene.4
Government Awards Moderna $176 Million Grant to Develop Human Bird Flu Vaccine Using mRNA Technology
In July 2024, the U.S. government awarded Moderna $176 million in taxpayer funds to develop a bird flu vaccine. The funds from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will support the completion of development and testing for a pre-pandemic mRNA vaccine targeting the H5N1 avian influenza virus.7
According to U.S. officials, phase 1 clinical trial results were expected over the summer, with late-stage testing scheduled to begin in 2025. Amid rising concerns that exposure to the H5N1 avian influenza virus in poultry and dairy operations could heighten the risk of mutation and human-to-human transmission, the contract between Moderna and the U.S. government also includes provisions for accelerated development if human cases or their severity escalate.
The projected accelerated fast tracking to market of an mRNA bird flu vaccine closely mirrors the framework of Operation Warp Speed, which featured a fast track initiative to bring the mRNA COVID vaccine to market in 2020. ⁶ The COVID biological was distributed to the public in December 2020 under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) granted to Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna/NIAID by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Congress gave liability protection to both manufacturers and shot administrators for harm caused by the unlicensed product.8
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