People hospitalized with the flu should be tested for bird flu within 24 hours, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday, expanding the agency's efforts to address a surge in human infections of the virus.
The alert is intended to prevent delays in identifying human cases of avian influenza A (H5N1) virus amid high levels of seasonal influenza.
The risk of bird flu to the general public is low, and there is no further evidence of person-to-person transmission, the agency said.
However, influenza A-positive patients, especially those in intensive care units, should ideally be tested within 24 hours of hospitalization to identify the subtype of the virus and determine whether they have bird flu, the agency said.
Before Thursday's guidelines were released, hospitals typically sent samples to a lab for subtyping every few days.
Faster testing also aims to help doctors identify how people were infected and get tests and drugs to their close contacts more quickly, if needed, Nirav Shah, the agency's deputy principal director, said on a call with reporters.
Nearly 70 people in the U.S., most of them farm workers, have been infected with bird flu since April, as the virus has spread among poultry flocks and dairy farms. Three people have tested positive with no clear source of exposure, according to the CDC.
Most human infections have been mild, but one death was reported in Louisiana last week.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has more than 300 personnel working on bird flu and has spent $1.5 billion in its efforts to curb the spread of the disease in poultry and dairy cattle, said Eric Deeble, the agency's deputy undersecretary.
The USDA said last week it would rebuild its stockpile of bird flu vaccine for poultry.
USDA officials have met several times with the Trump administration's transition team to try to ensure a smooth handover of the agencies' actions to curb the spread of the virus, including a meeting at the White House on Wednesday, Deeble said.
Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the CDC, have also met repeatedly with the transition team via Zoom calls and have shared bird flu guidance, officials said on the press call.
The department said Thursday it plans to allocate $211 million for mRNA-based vaccine technology to better respond to emerging infectious diseases such as bird flu.
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