First Severe Bird Flu Case Confirmed In USNotably, these mutations weren’t present in the bird samples, suggesting they developed after the virus jumped to the patient.The CDC reassures the public that the overall risk remains low,

The CDC warns samples of the bird flu virus show signs of mutations that could make it more transmissible to humans. The CDC says it appears the H5N1 virus contained mutations in the Louisiana patient who contracted the nation’s first severe case of the illness.

The genetic analysis of the H5N1 avian flu virus in specimens from the nation's first severely ill hospitalized patient in Louisiana reveals mutations that may enable upper-airway infection and greater transmission, concludes a technical summary from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).