The patient in Louisiana who was hospitalized with severe bird flu illness was found to have a mutated version of the virus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced last week.

The fact that the virus mutated within the patient suggests that it could potentially spread from human to human.

The CDC analyzed samples of the H5N1 virus that were collected from the patient, comparing its genomic sequences to those of infected dairy cows, wild birds, poultry and other animals, the agency stated.

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“The analysis identified low frequency mutations in the hemagglutinin gene of a sample sequenced from the patient, which were not found in virus sequences from poultry samples collected on the patient’s property, suggesting the changes emerged in the patient after infection,” the CDC said.

“While these low frequency changes are rare in humans, they have been reported in previous cases of A(H5N1) in other countries and most often during severe disease.”

Based on the discovery of these genetic changes in the virus, health officials recommend performing “ongoing genomic surveillance” in people and animals, taking steps to contain bird flu outbreaks among dairy cattle and poultry, and taking steps to prevent transmission when exposed to infected animals or environments.

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The CDC maintains that the risk to the general public is still low.

“The same mutations were not present in viral genomes sampled from the backyard birds that presumably infected the individual,” Samuel Scarpino, director of AI and life sciences and professor of health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

The CDC analyzed samples of the H5N1 virus that were collected from the patient, comparing its genomic sequences to those of infected dairy cows, wild birds, poultry and other animals. (iStock)

“Because the mutations were present in the human patient, but not the backyard birds, this suggests that the mutations arose during the course of that individual’s infection.”

Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News senior medical analyst, told Fox News Digital, shared his thoughts on the significance of this finding.

“Each human infection represents a spin of the epidemic roulette wheel.”

“It is somewhat concerning that the H5N1 bird flu virus found in the Louisiana patient showed a mutation that allowed it to enter the upper airways more easily in this patient, but this mutation has been seen before,” he told Fox News Digital.

The good news, the doctor noted, is that there have not been any reports of the Louisiana patient transmitting the virus to other humans.

“It is important that surveillance among domestic poultry and dairy cattle is extensive,” Dr. Marc Siegel told Fox News Digital. (Photo by Uli Deck/picture alliance via Getty Images)

“We know the mutations to look out for in terms of the potential to spread among humans” based on previous research, Siegel said. 

“It is important that surveillance among domestic poultry and dairy cattle is extensive,” he added. 

Scarpino agreed that while the mutations are “concerning,” they “likely do not represent an increased risk to the public.”

“Similar events — mutations arising during infection that increase risk in humans — occurred with the individual who was infected with H5N1 from wild birds in Canada and have happened a number of times during previous H5N1 outbreaks outside the U.S. and Canada,” he told Fox News Digital. 

The more opportunities the virus has to infect people, the more likely similar mutations will occur and spark a “chain of transmission” in humans, one expert cautioned. (iStock)

“To date, it does not appear as though the individual in Louisiana transmitted the infection to other people.”

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The doctor cautioned, however, that the more opportunities the virus has to infect people, the more likely similar mutations will occur and spark a “chain of transmission” in humans. 

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“Each human infection represents a spin of the epidemic roulette wheel,” Scarpino said. 

“We need to take active steps to eliminate H5N1 infections in agricultural populations and better understand why so many wild birds continue to be infected.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are keeping a close eye on “red flags” relating to the bird flu and whether the illness might develop into a pandemic, according to a report. 

The latest numbers show 66 confirmed human cases of bird flu in the U.S. The CDC is taking a holiday break and will resume updates on human cases on Jan. 3.

“Identifying epidemiologically linked clusters of influenza A(H5N1) human cases might indicate the virus is better able to spread between humans,” a CDC spokesperson told Newsweek. “CDC is searching for genetic changes in circulating viruses that suggest it could better transmit between humans.”

The red flags the CDC is monitoring are outbreaks that are spread from person-to-person and evidence that the virus has mutated, Newsweek reports.

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Last week, the CDC announced that a patient in Louisiana who was hospitalized with severe bird flu illness was found to have a mutated version of the virus. That case fell into the red flag category, the CDC spokesperson told Newsweek.

“The analysis identified low frequency mutations in the hemagglutinin gene of a sample sequenced from the patient, which were not found in virus sequences from poultry samples collected on the patient’s property, suggesting the changes emerged in the patient after infection,” the CDC said in an announcement on its website.

BIRD FLU PATIENT HAD VIRUS MUTATIONS, SPARKING CONCERN ABOUT HUMAN SPREAD

A recall alert is displayed on a refrigerator at a pet store in Tigard, Ore., on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, after Northwest Naturals announced a voluntary recall Tuesday of one batch of its 2-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after it tested positive for the virus. (Jenny Kane)

“While these low frequency changes are rare in humans, they have been reported in previous cases of A(H5N1) in other countries and most often during severe disease,” the agency added.

The CDC did not immediately get back to a Fox News Digital inquiry, but previously stressed there has been no known transmission of the virus from the Louisiana patient to anyone else.

A cow has its hair trimmed by an exhibitor at the state fair in West Allis, Wisconsin, U.S., August 9, 2024. Dairy farmers were taking precautions with testing for avian flu while exhibiting cattle during the fair.  (Reuters/Jim Vondruska)

Avian influenza, also known as HPAI, is a highly contagious virus that can be spread in various ways from flock to flock  through contact with infected animals, by equipment, and on the clothing and shoes of caretakers, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

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State officials confirmed infected flocks in two additional Michigan counties on Monday. 

FILE PHOTO: A person touches a test tube labelled “Bird Flu”, in this picture illustration, January 14, 2023. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)

According to the CDC, the public health risk associated with avian influenza remains low. No birds or bird products infected with HPAI will enter the commercial food chain. 

Fox News’ Alexandra Koch, Melissa Rudy and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

2024 was packed with health care innovations, from a new blood test detecting Alzheimer’s disease to deep brain stimulation reversing paralysis.

Heading into the New Year, medical experts are predicting even more medical advances for 2025.

Researchers from Mass General Brigham, a health care system in Boston, Massachusetts, shared with Fox News Digital some of the scientific developments and breakthroughs they expect to see, which are also published on the hospital’s website.

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5 cancer predictions

1. “I anticipate we are going to see continued breakthroughs and growth in immunotherapy for cancer, particularly with FDA approvals and commercialization of cell therapies for solid tumors. The field is also poised to make great strides in using these technologies for other conditions, like autoimmune diseases.”

Bryan Choi, MD, PhD
Investigator, Department of Neurosurgery
Massachusetts General Hospital

2. “I predict novel discoveries and innovative strategies for early cancer detection and prevention will dramatically impact patient care in the coming year. With the proven success of immunotherapy for cancer treatment, there is an emerging interest in utilizing the patient’s own immune system for cancer prevention, especially in high-risk populations. This area of research is expanding rapidly and will likely generate actionable targets for investigations in patients.”

Shawn Demehri, MD, PhD
Investigator, Mass General Cancer Center
Massachusetts General Hospital

3. “The current standard for treating patients with clinical stage 2 or 3 triple-negative breast cancer is to administer chemotherapy in addition to immunotherapy prior to surgery. This combination therapy leads to a better response than chemotherapy alone. However, immunotherapy comes with added toxicities that can lead to lifelong complications.”

Researchers expect that 2025 will include an “important step in further personalizing breast cancer care and reducing long-term side effects.” (iStock)

“In 2025, I anticipate significant progress will be made in identifying biomarkers in a patient’s peripheral immune system that will help determine which patients require the addition of immunotherapy and those who will do well with chemotherapy alone. This would be an important step in further personalizing breast cancer care and reducing long-term side effects.”

Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD, MHCM
Investigator, Department of Surgery
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

4. “In basic research, single-cell technologies have been advancing at an accelerated pace. In 2025, I believe we will likely see major breakthroughs in spatial transcriptomics and sub-cellular high-resolution imaging, particularly in the context of embryo development and understanding of cancer progression and resistance.”

Raul Mostoslavsky, PhD
Investigator, Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research
Massachusetts General Hospital

“I predict novel discoveries and innovative strategies for early cancer detection and cancer prevention will dramatically impact patient care.”

5. “I believe we will see a greater focus on the long-term impact of multiple environmental factors on disease states, such as cancer development processes. There is a misconception that many non-hereditary diseases, such as non-hereditary cancer, are the result of short-term risk factor exposure. I think that research in the coming year will shift focus on the long-term impacts of multiple disease-causing factors.”

Shuji Ogino, MD, PhD, MS
Chief of Molecular Pathological Epidemiology Program, Department of Pathology
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

6 neurology predictions

1. “I anticipate we’ll see an uptick in usage of artificial intelligence (AI) to support physicians while they care for patients, streamline workflows, and improve diagnostics and treatments in 2025. We’re also likely to see expanded use of robotics and AI in complex surgeries, particularly for brain and spine procedures.”

E. Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD, FAANS
Executive Director, Center for Tumors of the Nervous System
Mass General Brigham

1. “I anticipate we’ll see an uptick in usage of artificial intelligence to support physicians while they care for patients, streamline workflows, and improve diagnostics and treatments in 2025,” one neurologist said. (iStock)

2. “I predict that advances in non-invasive brain stimulation will change how we care for patients with brain disease, including accelerated protocols that improve symptoms in days rather than weeks, personalized protocols that target the most bothersome symptom in each patient, and at-home devices that make brain stimulation accessible to more patients.”

Michael Fox, MD, PhD
Director, Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

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3. “Advances in focused ultrasound technology offer the potential for non-invasive, targeted, and temporary opening of the blood-brain barrier. This could allow therapies that were previously ineffective — due to their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier to reach their target in the central nervous system — to directly target tissues. I think we will see a breakthrough in this area of research in the next year, enabling treatments for a wide range of brain disorders, including neurological, psychiatric and neurosurgical conditions.”

Alexandra Golby, MD
Investigator, Neurosciences Center
Brigham and Women’s Hospital  

4. “Starting in 2025, it will become possible to administer transcranial magnetic stimulation to treat depression over the course of just days instead of weeks, which, aided by pharmacological co-agents, will still lead to a very high remission rate in treatment-resistant patients.”

Andreas Horn, MD, PhD
Director, Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

“I predict that advances in non-invasive brain stimulation will change how we care for patients with brain disease,” one doctor said. (BrainsWay)

5. “I predict that the prevention of dementia, stroke and depression will become a cornerstone of patient-directed primary care. In 2024, we saw the publication of several high-impact validation studies of the Brain Care Score (BCS), a tool designed to help people everywhere use the most robust science to guide their daily lifestyle choices and reduce their risk of dementia, stroke and depression by up to 50%. In parallel, we have laid the groundwork to empower people everywhere to use the BCS routinely, and to bring it with them to their next primary care visit with a health care provider.”

Jonathan Rosand, MD, MSc
JP Kistler Endowed Chair in Neurology
Co-Founder, McCance Center for Brain Health
Massachusetts General Hospital

“I envision that in 2025, the discovery of molecular biomarkers will shift the care paradigm to a more proactive approach. “

6. “I foresee advances on several fronts of dementia care as a major theme for health care in 2025. This includes AI-assisted approaches to improve early diagnosis, novel ways of delivering personalized treatments, and advances in care delivery as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-developed GUIDE (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience) Model of Care is implemented nationwide. I also predict that caregiving for persons with dementia will gain further recognition as a major element of health care, requiring more resources and attention.”

Ipsit V. Vahia, MD
Investigator, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry
McLean Hospital 

5 cardiology predictions

1. “I believe in 2025 we can expect to see the completion of the first large outcomes-focused clinical trial from a group of new medications that target lipoprotein(a), a unique type of ‘bad cholesterol’ that increases a patient’s risk for cardiovascular disease. Up to this point, the treatment paradigm for patients with elevated lipoprotein(a) has been to aggressively modify other risk factors, but we may soon have more targeted treatment options.”

Michael Honigberg, MD, MPP
Investigator, Cardiology Division
Massachusetts General Hospital

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2. “Cardiac critical care has transformed into its own discipline, but remains largely reactive to treating patients as they become sicker. I envision that in 2025, the discovery of molecular biomarkers will shift the care paradigm to a more proactive approach. Molecular biomarkers may help us identify patients most at risk of disease and start interventions earlier, maybe even preventively.”

Edy Kim, MD, PhD
Investigator, Pulmonary Division
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

3. “I predict that in 2025, we will see significant advancements in women’s health research. In particular, I hope to see major breakthroughs that improve quality of life and cardiovascular health in mid-life/menopausal women, a group that has been historically underappreciated.”

Emily S. Lau, MD, MPH
Investigator, Cardiometabolic Health and Hormones Clinic
Massachusetts General Hospital

“In 2025, I anticipate significant progress will be made in identifying biomarkers in a patient’s peripheral immune system that will help determine which patients require the addition of immunotherapy and those who will do well with chemotherapy alone,” one doctor said. (iStock)

4. “In 2025, I anticipate we will see the introduction of two intertwined advances. First, the integration of artificial intelligence-facilitated algorithms for the early detection of cardiovascular illness, which will move us closer toward early prevention. We also envision a focus on using genetically informed treatments to reduce the risk of atherosclerotic heart disease, valvular heart disease and heart failure. Together, these important advances will usher in an era of personalized health care in cardiovascular disease.”

Mandeep R. Mehra, MBBS, MSc
Executive Director, Center for Advanced Heart Disease
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

5. “In the coming year, I anticipate a marked increase in focus on cardio-kidney-metabolic health, necessitating new patient-centered models of interdisciplinary care.”

Pradeep Natarajan, MD, MMSc
Director, Preventive Cardiology
Massachusetts General Hospital

6 general scientific predictions

1. “In 2025, I believe we will uncover the answers to remaining questions about nutrient metabolism and why a calorie is not a calorie, thereby improving our understanding of why some people gain weight.”

Caroline Apovian, MD
Co-Director, Center for Weight Management and Wellness
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

“In 2025, I believe we will uncover the answers to remaining questions about nutrient metabolism and why a calorie is not a calorie, thereby improving our understanding of why some people gain weight,” a doctor predicted. (iStock)

2. “In the coming year, I see artificial intelligence being integrated more into health care as a supplement to physician knowledge and intuition. With the amount of biomedical data we are generating, I predict AI tools will improve our ability to interpret and apply the most salient information to individual patients, resulting in a personalized approach to patient care. I also predict that AI will continue to greatly reduce the administrative burden on providers and enable them to spend more time with their patients.”

William Hwang, MD, PhD
Investigator, Center for Systems Biology, Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research, Department of Radiation Oncology
Massachusetts General Hospital

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3. “I think in 2025, we will see the implementation of generative artificial intelligence language models (i.e., chatbots) for some aspects of routine clinical care, such as the preparation of patient communications, generation of preliminary diagnostic test reports, or summarization of patient medical records.”

Shaan Khurshid, MD, MPH
Investigator, Telemachus and Irene Demoulas Family Foundation Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias
Massachusetts General Hospital

Artificial intelligence is expected to play a big role in the 2025 health landscape. (iStock)

4. “In 2025, I think we will recognize the power of drones and begin to use them to transform the way we deliver health care by making the home the center of care. Drone-facilitated care will impact primary care, urgent and emergency care, and even enable public health leaps by bringing care directly to patients in ways we never thought possible (or maybe thought were possible only for the Jetsons).”

David Levine, MD, MPH, MA
Clinical Director of Research and Development
Mass General Brigham

“I believe in 2025, we will see many more patients benefiting from genetic therapies.”

5. “Increased access to emerging technologies and personalized data, combined with information specifically tailored for the individual, will drive self-care in health and wellness in more patients, initially in preventative medicine, in the next year. This phenomenon will begin to impact chronic disease management and progressively more complex conditions and will accelerate devolution of care and responsibility for many conditions to the patient — who is often best placed to understand their own health.”

Calum A. MacRae, MD, PhD
Vice Chair for Scientific Innovation
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

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6. “Treatments for rare genetic diseases are rapidly being translated to clinics. With close to 40 gene and cell therapies approved and hundreds expected to come down the pipeline, I believe that in 2025, we will see many more patients benefiting from genetic therapies.”

Susan A. Slaugenhaupt, PhD
Scientific Director, Mass General Research Institute
Massachusetts General Hospital