Due to ongoing sporadic H5N1 avian flu infections and brisk levels of seasonal flu activity, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today urged healthcare providers to subtype all influenza A specimens in hospitalized patients, especially those in the intensive care unit (ICU), as soon as possible.

The CDC is calling for expanded testing of bird flu after a child in California tested positive for the virus despite no known contact with animals.

The risk to the general public from bird flu is low, and there has been no further evidence of person to person spread, the agency said. Influenza A-positive patients, particularly those in an intensive care unit,

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that hospitals speed up testing people who are hospitalized with the flu for H5N1 bird flu. Health care workers in hospitals are urged to perform additional testing on patients hospitalized with influenza A — ideally within 24 hours of admission — to determine

CDC officials say they extended the guidance now because they are seeing more H5N1 patients whose illness they cannot track back to an infected bird or cow.

Spartanburg has a confirmed case of the bird flu. The CDC reports the virus was detected on Dec. 31, 2024, in a flock of about 490 birds.