Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA, ETR:0QF) shares surged alongside rival vaccine makers on Tuesday after news broke of the first human death related to the H5 bird flu strain in the US.
America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday reported an elderly patient in Louisiana with underlying medical conditions had died from the disease.
Some 66 H5N1 bird flu cases since the start of 2024 had been recorded in the US, according to the agency, though it reassured risk to the general public “remains low”.
“Most importantly, no person-to-person transmission spread has been identified,” it added.
“As with the case in Louisiana, most H5 bird flu infections are related to animal-to-human exposures.”
Moderna, which was awarded US$176 million by the government to develop a bird flu vaccine last July, climbed 12% 11.2% to US$47.34 on Tuesday.
Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) and CureVac BV, which are both in the early stages of developing such a vaccine, climbed by 12.1% and 5.9% respectively in the meantime.
Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE, ETR:PFE), which disclosed development of a bird flu vaccine in May, also climbed, by 1.3%.
Health officials have previously said they were closely monitoring the outbreak, which marks the worst of its kind to hit the US after sweeping across poultry farms and to some 900 cattle herds throughout 16 states.