On Jan. 21, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the United States' first known case of novel coronavirus -- what would later come to be known as COVID-19.

Respiratory viruses are continuing to spread across the United States and such activity "is expected to continue for several more weeks."

Chronic lower respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

CDC testing data for the same period reveals that 6.6 percent of COVID-19 tests came back positive, with Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin seeing the highest test positivity rates of any region at 8.9 percent.

CDC officials say medical professionals are seeing more patients whose illness cannot be traced back to an infected animal or bird.

The CDC has issued a Level 3 travel advisory for Rwanda due to an outbreak of the Marburg virus. The agency will also screen travelers from Rwanda.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging health care workers to accelerate bird flu testing for patients hospitalized with flu symptoms.

Cases have been spreading across the country since April 2024 with 67 confirmed as of Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitals treating people for the flu should test them for avian influenza within 24 hours.

The CDC is monitoring developments closely because the United States is in the middle of flu season. With more patients flooding hospitals seeking care for seasonal flu, testing for avian influenza could slow down, and that could delay public health measures needed to prevent disease spread.