in a shocking turn of events Missouri reports its first H5 bird flu hospitalization a person in Missouri has tested positive for the H5 bird flu virus without any known contact with animals this marks the first such instance in the US outbreak and has resulted in the patient being hospitalized the patient who was admitted on August 22nd with underlying health conditions initially tested positive for influenza A however further testing confirmed it as the H5 subtype known as highly pathogenic Aven influenza the CDC is now conducting further analysis but this case is Raising alarms due to the patients lack of exposure to infected animals previously cases in the US have been mild and involved Farm Workers with direct animal contact globally bird flu has a mortality rate of around 50% for confirmed cases although milder cases may go undetected the Rarity of person-to-person transmission over the past two decades is small comfort as health officials worry about the virus spreading among those with no direct animal contact stay informed and stay safe subscribe for more updates on this developing story