California health officials have found a possible case of bird flu in a child from the San Francisco Bay Area.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) said in a Nov. 19 statement that the child from Alameda County is recovering at home with “mild upper respiratory symptoms” after receiving treatment.
The child had no known contact with an infected animal, but public health experts are investigating a possible exposure to wild birds.
“The positive test showed a low-level detection of the virus, indicating the child was not likely infectious to others,” the CDPH said.
“Repeat bird flu testing on the child four days later was negative, and additional testing shows the child was also positive for respiratory viruses that could be the cause of their cold and flu symptoms.”
The case is called “possible” because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still needs to confirm it.
Health officials said the virus hasn’t spread from person to person. The child’s family members did have mild flu symptoms, but tested positive for other ailments, not bird flu. They’re getting preventive treatment just in case.
Out of caution, CDPH said that others who had been in contact with the child were being notified and offered preventive treatment and testing.
The CDPH, local health officials, and the CDC are working together to determine how the child got infected. The child went to daycare with mild symptoms before testing positive, prompting local health officials to check with daycare workers and families who might have been exposed.
Dr. Tomás Aragón, CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer emphasized there shouldn’t be cause for worry.
“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,” he said.
Symptoms of bird flu in humans can include red or watery eyes, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, diarrhea, throwing up, muscle or body aches, headaches, tiredness, trouble breathing, and fever.
27 Confirmed Human Cases
The recent case is part of a bigger bird flu outbreak affecting poultry and dairy farms across the United States.
Since early October, California has had 27 confirmed human cases of bird flu, all from contact with infected dairy cows. These cases were deemed mild, mostly causing eye infections, and no one has needed to go to the hospital, according to the health department.
The CDPH says it’s rare for humans to get bird flu, and it has never before spread between people in the United States. In the few cases where it has spread between people in other countries, it only affected a few relatives or friends of the sick person.
Health officials are monitoring the virus closely for any mutations that could make it spread more easily between people.
The current bird flu outbreak began in 2022 and has affected over 108 million birds. Since March, the virus has also been detected in dairy cattle across 15 states, and a case of an infected pig was reported for the first time last month.