A child in California has been confirmed as the first person in the United States to test positive for bird flu, authorities reported on Friday. Health officials have offered screenings and preventive treatment to those who were in contact with the child at their day-care center.
The child, from Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area, showed mild symptoms and is recovering at home after being treated with antiviral medications, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
As a precaution, the child’s close family members were tested, and all results came back negative.
Local officials have also contacted the caregivers and families at the day-care center where the child had mild symptoms before testing positive.
The initial test revealed only low levels of the bird flu virus, indicating the child was likely not contagious when tested. A follow-up test four days later also showed negative results.
In the United States, day-care centers generally serve children aged six weeks to five years.
“It’s natural for people to be concerned, and we want to reassure parents, caregivers, and families that based on the available data, we don’t believe the child was contagious,” said Tomas Aragon, director of the CDPH.
He added, “There has been no human-to-human transmission of bird flu in any country for over 15 years.”
Official statements highlighted that in the rare cases where bird flu has spread between people, it has been limited to a small number of close contacts.
Though human cases of bird flu remain rare and the sources of infection are often unclear, these occurrences have been noted historically and during the current outbreak, which public health authorities began tracking in 2022.
As of this case, 55 human cases of H5 bird flu have been reported in the United States in 2024, with 29 of those in California, according to the CDC.
The CDC continues to assess the risk to the general public as low, although it is higher for those working closely with livestock, including birds and dairy cattle.
