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,

Health authorities have revealed that the bird flu virus mutated inside a Louisiana patient who contracted the first severe case of the illness in the US, potentially making it more transmissible to humans.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday its analysis of samples from the first severe case of bird flu in the country last week showed mutations not seen in samples from an infected backyard flock on the patient's property.