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.

Federal health officials have confirmed unsettling new details about the first United States case of severe bird flu,

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 patient was likely infected after having contact with sick and dead birds in a backyard flock, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this month.

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.

A new bird flu mutation of H5N1 has been discovered in a patient in the US state of Louisiana. Public health officials are concerned the new strain may rapidly develop, increasing its ability to affect humans.