Flu surveillance indicates a likely case of H5 avian influenza in Delaware

An H5 avian flu case that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently added to its probable list was initially reported during routine flu surveillance.

In other developments, federal officials confirmed additional detections of H5N1 in dairy cows, poultry flocks and some non-agricultural mammals, and Labcorp announced the launch of its molecular test for the virus in humans.

Disclosure unknown in likely Delaware case

Tim Mastro, deputy director of communications for Delaware Health and Social Services, said in an email that the state’s public health division identified a possible case of novel H5 during routine surveillance at the state health laboratory, which was immediately contacted I have contacted CDC for confirmation of a test and guidance.

After multiple tests of the sample, the CDC informed Delaware health officials that it could not confirm the novel influenza A virus in this case.

The CDC said a few days ago that the infection met the case definition for a probable case and there was no defined exposure. The CDC has now reported seven probable cases. The six others are people who had contact with cows or poultry. The number of laboratory-confirmed infections since the beginning of the year remains at 60, including two with unknown exposure.

Further confirmation in cows, poultry and other mammals

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed seven additional outbreaks in dairy cows, all in California, bringing the state total to 645 and the statewide total to 860 in 16 states.

APHIS also added two additional confirmations in poultry flocks, the one recently identified in backyard birds in Louisiana and an outbreak at a commercial turkey breeding facility in Barron County, Wisconsin.

APHIS also confirmed five additional H5N1 detections in mammals, all with sampling dates between the end of October and the first week of December. These include a house mouse and a house cat from Cache County, Utah, where outbreaks were reported in dairy cattle and on an egg farm earlier this fall. The finds also include two mountain lions, one in Arizona and the other in Washington, and a domestic cat in San Bernardino County, California.

Labcorp starts H5 test

Labcorp today announced that its H5 avian influenza molecular test can now be ordered by physicians and used to assess potential human exposure. The company said it developed the test with support from the CDC to expand access and testing capacity in light of ongoing outbreaks in dairy cows and poultry linked to a growing number of human cases, some of which had unknown exposures.

Testing with the Labcorp test requires the collection of a nasopharyngeal sample that is sent to Labcorp for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. The result is communicated to the doctor and the patient.