Due to ongoing sporadic H5N1 avian flu infections and brisk levels of seasonal flu activity, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today urged healthcare providers to subtype all influenza A specimens in hospitalized patients, especially those in the intensive care unit (ICU), as soon as possible.

Mutations in one of the first human-isolated strains of H5N1 bird flu in the US were identified by the Texas Biomedical Research Institute.

In early December 2024, a group of researchers published an article in the journal Science, entitled "A single mutation in bovine influenza H5N1 hemagglutinin switches specificity to human receptors".

Since early 2024, the U.S. has logged 66 human cases of H5N1. Scientists are keeping a watchful eye on the virus’s spread as we enter a new year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains that the virus that sickened the Louisiana patient matched a strain circulating in birds. The strain is called the D1.1 genotype.

The LDH revealed that the patient was over age 65, had underlying medical conditions and contracted bird flu after exposure to both wild birds and a non-commercial backyard flock.

Companies including Moderna and Pfizer are working on mRNA vaccines for bird flu. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Human MxA protein suppresses mammalian H5N1 virus replication, but emerging mutations may enable partial evasion, raising concerns for human transmission.

The findings come at a time when outbreaks of bird flu -- a different subtype of the same ... of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 influenza virus currently circulating

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains, bird flu is a disease caused by the influenza A virus. At the same time, recent CDC data shows that seasonal influenza A is rising across the U.

Dispatch: Comparison of Contemporary and Historic Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza ... H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b virus was detected in cattle, which spread to herds in 16 states across the United ...