Susan Furth, MD, PhD Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer | Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Susan Furth, MD, PhD Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer | Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have published new findings about the incidence of H5N1 avian influenza in humans. The study, authored by Garg S, Reinhart K, Couture A, and others, was detailed in the New England Journal of Medicine on February 27, 2025.
The analysis included data from 46 patients, with 20 exposed to poultry and 25 to infected dairy cows. One individual had no identified animal exposure. Among these 45 patients, most experienced mild illness, and there were no hospitalizations or deaths reported.
Out of the patients studied, 93% had conjunctivitis, 49% had a fever, and 36% experienced respiratory symptoms. The median duration of their illness was approximately four days, with 87% of the patients receiving the antiviral medication oseltamivir. These H5N1 strains remain responsive to this treatment. Notably, there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission.
The authors stated that, "In the cases identified to date, A(H5N1) viruses generally caused mild illness, mostly conjunctivitis, of short duration, predominantly in U.S. adults exposed to infected animals."
The report was contributed by Paul A. Offit, MD.
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