I didn't see this mentioned in the article (or maybe I missed it), but what are the chances that it's already been circulating in the population (h2h) but causing very mild symptoms? It doesn't seem like we're testing for it unless a patient becomes hospitalized (and apparently even then it might take several ER trips before they decide to test). Are we relying on waste-water testing to determine community transmission then?

I have a friend here in Oregon that came down with conjunctivitis for several days and then progressed to flu symptoms. It didn't hit him hard though and he recovered on his own just fine. I'm sure many pathogens can produce this same symptom progression, but it elevated my curiosity for sure.

I see that Canadian teen who acquired H5N1 had a similar symptom progression and initially tested positive for flu strain A, but it wasn't until they did further testing specifically for H5N1 that it was discovered. I suspect these "last-resort" testing scenarios are quite common since most hospitals (particularly in the US) don't give enough of a damn to test further for cases that don't require over-night+ admission into the hospital or ICU.