#18,611
Earlier today the USDA confirmed two more dairy herds in Nevada are positive for H5N1 - the first in December - and 6 more over the past couple of weeks (at least 4 of which are confirmed genotype D1.1.). There is a pretty good chance these latest two herds are also D1.1.
Yesterday I mentioned there was an unconfirmed report of a human infection in Nevada. Today we have the following statement from the Central Nevada Health District (h/t Commonground on FluTrackers).
So far, I find no confirmation on the CDC avian flu site. Hopefully an announcement will be forthcoming. In the meantime, the press release from the CNHD.
We are also awaiting a more complete analysis of the genetic sequencing of the virus, which we learned on Friday (see USDA Summary Of Nevada's H5N1 Genotype D1.1 Spillover Into Cattle) also carried the D701N PB2 mutation, which has previously been linked to increased severity of infection (see here and here) in other avian influenza viruses.
