#18,419
Earlier today we looked at a report from Madera County Public Health announcing 2 more California H5 cases (1 confirmed, 1 presumptive positive). This afternoon the California Public DPH posted the above update, adding 5 new cases to their tally, which previously sat at 21 (+1 probable).
Since none of the states are providing any date or location information (aka, an epidemiological line list), it is difficult to know if today's state announcement includes (one or both) of the Madera county cases.
Since these numbers are continually increasing, and are unlikely to represent the true number of cases in the community, the point may be moot.
The CDC's case count (n=46) has not changed in more than a week, although I'm hoping for an update later today.
The CDC's case count differs from the states, as it does not include 4 cases confirmed by California & Washington (but not the CDC), nor does it include a 2nd (strongly suspected) case in Missouri, or any of the 8 cases turned up last week by retrospective serology tests.
Stay tuned, but I wouldn't focus too much on the exact number.
Because nobody really knows how many cases have occurred.
