Bird Flu Has Infected Two Young People. Here’s Why Experts Are Concerned

New Bird Flu Cases in Young People Are Raising Concerns about Mutating Virus

By Lauren J. Young

Since a strain of avian influenza was first detected in U.S. dairy cows this past spring, it has caused relatively mild illness in humans, with most cases seen in farmworkers who were directly exposed to sick dairy cows or poultry. But two unusual cases in children who had no known prior contact with infected animals are increasing scientists’ concerns that the infections foreshadow a larger public health threat. On Tuesday a child in California with a mild infection tested positive for low levels of a bird flu virus that is most likely H5N1. And Canadian health officials announced last week that a teenager in British Columbia who was hospitalized with bird flu was in critical condition—the country’s first locally acquired infection.

“We’re not containing the outbreak,” says Seema Lakdawala, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the Emory University School of Medicine. “Most likely this British Columbian case is not going to be the only time a kid is hospitalized with H5N1.”

In both cases, family members and close contacts have tested negative for the virus, and officials report no evidence of person-to-person transmission. The Canadian teen, whose age and sex have been withheld, initially had symptoms similar to other cases reported so far: fever, coughing and conjunctivitis—an eye infection that’s been common with bird flu. The teen later developed acute respiratory distress, however, despite having no underlying health issues. A person in Missouri with a history of chronic respiratory illness tested positive for bird flu while hospitalized for gastrointestinal symptoms in September.

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has logged 52 bird flu cases in people…