Doctors should use infection control measures if a hospitalized patient has suspected, probable, or confirmed H5N1, putting the patient in an airborne infection isolation room with negative pressure, and using standard, contact, and airborne precautions with eye protection such as goggles or a face shield.

Bird flu is a disease caused by avian influenza A viruses, according to the CDC. The virus mostly spreads between birds and dairy cows, but there have been 67 human cases of bird flu nationwide and one death tied to the infection since 2024, CDC records show.

Due to ongoing sporadic H5N1 avian flu infections and brisk levels of seasonal flu activity, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today urged healthcare providers to subtype all influenza A specimens in hospitalized patients, especially those in the intensive care unit (ICU), as soon as possible.

Health officials in San Francisco announced Friday that they are investigating a presumptive case of H5N1 bird flu that was found in a child who lives in the city.

CDC officials say they extended the guidance now because they are seeing more H5N1 patients whose illness they cannot track back to an infected bird or cow.

Seasonal influenza vaccines triggered protective immune responses against the H5N1 avian influenza virus primarily in younger people, indicating its potential use as a first line of defense during an eventful pandemic.

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains, bird flu is a disease caused by the influenza A virus. At the same time, recent CDC data shows that seasonal influenza A is rising across the U.

The CDC has confirmed a positive bird flu case in a child in San Francisco, the second juvenile case of H5N1 in the country.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today released an advisory recommending clinicians expedite subtyping of type A influenza samples from hospitalized patients, particularly individuals in an intensive care unit.