ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report on Dec. 26 declaring the discovery of a mutation of a strain of H5N1 found in a severe human case of the disease. Despite the changes detected that have sparked some alarm, the CDC maintains its stance that the risk to the general public remains low.

CDC sequenced samples from a patient in Louisiana who became severely ill after contracting H5N1 earlier this month. This was the first severe case in the United States.

The mutation discovered from the patient’s samples has created some concern due to its ability to bind to cell receptors found in the upper respiratory tracts of people. While the mutation could allow the virus to move through human airways more easily, the CDC noted that no person-to-person transmission has been detected yet.

“Although concerning, and a reminder that A(H5N1) viruses can develop changes during the clinical course of a human infection, these changes would be more concerning if found in animal hosts or in early stages of infection (e.g., within a few days of symptom onset) when these changes might be more likely to facilitate spread to close contacts,” the agency wrote in its report.

The CDC suggested that the mutation occurred as the virus replicated in the patient. After performing virus sequences from infected poultry the patient was exposed to, the CDC confirmed that they were nearly identical to the patient’s, except for mixed nucleotides found in the person’s sample.