Nation's First Child Bird Flu Case Confirmed In CA

CALIFORNIA—The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a human infection of H5N1 bird flu in a child in California.

The CDC said Friday that it is the first reported avian influenza H5 virus infection in a child in the United States.

As the child recovered from the illness at home in Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area, the California Department of Public Health continued its investigation into how the child was exposed to the virus. The child had no known contact with an infected animal, but public health experts are investigating a possible exposure to wild birds.

The CDC said the child reportedly experienced mild symptoms and received flu antivirals, consistent with previously identified U.S. human cases. The CDC detected low levels of H5 bird flu viral material in the initial specimen collected from the child. Follow-up testing of the child several days later was negative for H5 bird flu but positive for other common respiratory viruses.

During CDPH's initial investigation, specimens were also collected from all members of the child's household after they reported experiencing symptoms. The CDC tested the household members' specimens. All test results were negative for H5 bird flu, the CDC said, but some family members were positive for the same common respiratory viruses as the child.

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Although there was no current evidence of person-to-person spread of H5N1 bird flu from this child to others, contact tracing was continuing.

To date, the CDC said, there has been no person-to-person spread identified associated with any of the H5N1 bird flu cases reported in the United States.

The case was detected through flu testing and was reported to CDPH through flu surveillance. It is the second U.S. case identified through national surveillance.

"These instances underscore the importance of ongoing surveillance and investigations at the local, state and federal levels," the CDC said Friday.

The CDC said it continues to closely monitor available data from influenza surveillance systems, particularly in states affected by outbreaks in animals, including California, where widespread outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu have been detected in wild birds and domestic poultry since 2022 and in dairy herds since August 2024.

Limited and sporadic human infections with avian influenza H5N1 virus —where animal exposure was not identified — are very uncommon but have occurred, primarily in countries other than the United States, the CDC said.

Including this most recent case, 55 human cases of H5 bird flu have now been reported in the United States during 2024, with 29 in California.

The risk of infection among the general public is low, according to the CDC. However, there is a higher risk of infection among people with unprotected exposure to infected or potentially infected animals, such as birds, dairy cattle, or other animals— including livestock —or to environments contaminated by infected birds or other animals.

All previous cases in California were tied to dairy workers, making the Alameda County child the first non-dairy worker to contract it.