CNN —Most human cases of bird flu in North America have been mild, a fact that’s underscored by a new study of the first 46 confirmed human H5N1 infections in the United States this year. With the number of cases continuing to grow, leaders from the National Institutes of Health are calling for more action to tackle the bird flu outbreak. The teen was infected with a newer variant of the H5N1 virus, D1.1, which is carried by wild birds. Taken together, she writes, the new reports of human cases show that the pace of human H5N1 infections has been accelerating. Although the overall number of human infections related to H5N1 has been low, the continued drip, drip, drip of human and animal detections is not a good sign.

---

Persons: ”, Megan Ranney, ” Ranney, Jennifer Nuzzo, ” Nuzzo, Jeanne Marrazzo, US Department of Agriculture hasn’t, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, Marrazzo, Michael Ison, ” Marrazzo Organizations: CNN, National Institutes of Health, New England, of Medicine, Yale School of Public Health, Health, Brown University, US Centers for Disease Control, CDC, National Institute of Allergy, US Department of Agriculture, CNN Health Locations: North America, United States, British Columbia, Washington, Louisiana, NIAID