Bird Flu Raising Red Flags Among Health Officials, CDC Urges Faster Testing

The CDC issued a health advisory Thursday recommending that hospitalized patients who have tested positive for influenza be tested for the bird flu virus within 24 hours. 

What To Know: There have been 67 confirmed human cases of bird flu in the U.S. since 2024 and the CDC says it is "watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with animal exposures."

The CDC's latest H5N1 bird flu advisory comes as new cases continue to be revealed. On Wednesday, the CDC confirmed a bird flu infection in a child in the San Francisco area who was not hospitalized and has since recovered. The CDC said it is still investigating how the child was exposed to the virus. 

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According to a Washington Post report, Nirav Shah, CDC's principal deputy director, said the latest recommendation is meant to accelerate testing rather than increase the number of tests being performed. 

Shah said it was prompted by cases in which infected patients were later confirmed to have bird flu, including after being discharged.

Earlier this month, the Louisiana Department of Health reported the first human death in the U.S. related to the H5N1 bird flu virus.

Vaccine Makers: Shares of vaccine-related stocks are on watch as previous bird flu developments have caused shares to spike. 

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) received a $176 million government contract in July to advance development of its bird flu vaccine, leveraging the same mRNA technology used in the company's COVID-19 vaccine.  

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) has a bird flu vaccine in clinical trials in addition to a COVID-19-influenza combination vaccine in late-stage clinical trials. 

CureVac N.V. (NASDAQ:CVAC) stock is also on watch as the company has started a phase I/II study on its bird flu vaccine developed in collaboration with GSK plc (NYSE:GSK).  

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