A genetic analysis suggests the bird flu virus mutated inside a Louisiana patient who contracted the first severe case of the illness in the United States. The U.S.

The United States has confirmed its first known severe human infection of H5N1 bird flu, in a person in Louisiana believed to have contracted the virus through contact with sick or dead birds in a backyard flock.

Genetic analysis of H5N1 bird flu viruses from a severely ill patient in Louisiana revealed multiple mutations that may enhance the virus’s ability to bind to human upper airway cells, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Thursday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Wednesday that the first case of severe human illness for H5N1 bird flu occurred this week in Louisiana, marking the first hospitalization for the disease in the United States.

A genetic analysis of viral samples from a patient in Louisiana hospitalized with the first severe case of bird flu showed mutations that may result in the virus becoming more transmissible

HPAI is considered low risk to humans, the agency said, and there have been no human cases in New England during the current outbreak. The post Bird flu detected in small backyard flock in Vermont appeared first on Boston.

Federal health officials say that not only has a Louisiana resident contracted the first severe case of bird flu in the U.S., but that the virus likely mutated in the patient. The findings raise concern regarding the adaptability of the virus.