Last Friday, US authorities said a child in California had become the first in the US to test positive for bird flu infection. Health officials offered checks and preventive treatment to exposed contacts at the child’s day-care centre.
The child had mild symptoms and was said to be recovering at home following treatment with flu antivirals.
“Including this most recent case, 55 human cases of H5 bird flu have now been reported in the US during 2024, with 29 in California,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Van Kerkhove said all but two of those had known exposure to infected animals.
“We have not seen evidence of human-to-human infection. But again, for each of these human-detected cases, we want to see a very thorough investigation taking place,” she said.
“We need much stronger efforts in terms of reducing the risk of infection between animals to new species and to humans,” she added, notably through testing and proper protective equipment.
Van Kerkhove, who was the WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, stressed the importance of preparing “for when or if we will be in a situation where we are in a flu pandemic”.
“We’re not in that situation yet, but we do need more vigilance.”
