Federal health officials say that not only has a Louisiana resident contracted the first severe case of bird flu in the U.S., but that the virus likely mutated in the patient. The findings raise concern regarding the adaptability of the virus.

A genetic analysis suggests the bird flu virus mutated inside a Louisiana patient who contracted the first severe case of the illness in the United States. The U.S.

A genetic analysis of samples from the patient in Louisiana recently hospitalized with the country’s first severe case of H5N1 bird flu show the virus likely mutated in the patient to potentially become more transmissible to humans,