San Francisco confirmed that a child in the city became the first case of H5N1. A panel of biotech leaders discussed what options could be taken next.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging hospitals to accelerate advanced testing of people they suspect may have bird flu.

Doctors should use infection control measures if a hospitalized patient has suspected, probable, or confirmed H5N1, putting the patient in an airborne infection isolation room with negative pressure, and using standard, contact, and airborne precautions with eye protection such as goggles or a face shield.

Bird flu is a disease caused by avian influenza A viruses, according to the CDC. The virus mostly spreads between birds and dairy cows, but there have been 67 human cases of bird flu nationwide and one death tied to the infection since 2024, CDC records show.

SAN FRANCISCO ... 19, influenza, and RSV based on symptoms and tested positive for influenza A. As part of SFDPH enhanced surveillance, the specimen was subsequently tested for H5N1."

Health officials in San Francisco ... for COVID-19, influenza and RSV based on symptoms and had tested positive for influenza A. The child's specimen was then tested for H5N1, which was positive.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that hospitals speed up testing people who are hospitalized with the flu for H5N1 bird flu. Health care workers in

SAN FRANCISCO — Public health officials say a San Francisco child has presumptively tested positive for H5N1 bird ... for COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus.

CDC officials say they extended the guidance now because they are seeing more H5N1 patients whose illness they cannot track back to an infected bird or cow.

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.

Cases have been spreading across the country since April 2024 with 67 confirmed as of Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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.