H5 Bird Flu: U.S Reports 1st Human Case of Contagious Virus

• The United States has recorded its first human case of the H5 bird flu in a man in Colorado.

• The affected patient is reported to have been involved in the culling of poultry birds that had the flu.

• The patient reported fatigue as the only symptom of the disease and has since recovered.

A man in Colorado has tested positive for the H5 bird flu virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This marks the first recorded human infection of the contagious virus in the United States.

Although the virus has proven to be severely fatal among commercial flocks and birds, experts have assured that humans have little to fear. The man, a Colorado resident, tested positive for the flu earlier this week and the CDC confirmed the results on Wednesday.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) reports that the man is quarantined in a state correctional facility. The CDPHE also noted that it is possible that the man may not have been actually infected with the flu. It is suggested the virus may have been present in his nose due to close contact with the poultry birds.

The state department simply described the man as younger than 40. It reports that the only symptom that he is experiencing from the H5 bird flu so far is fatigue. The patient was given oseltamivir, an antiviral drug for flu. The CDPHE also disclosed that no other cases have been recorded in the state.

This comes only a few days after China reported that a 4-year-old boy was infected with another strain of bird flu. The boy was also reported to have been in close contact with poultry birds.

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