H5N1 Flu

Outbreaks reported in poultry and dairy cattle

Avian influenza, or bird flu, is a virus that is on the mind of many in the United States and globally. The disease, which historically is transmitted by wild and farm birds, recently has jumped to other farm animals and humans. The mass infections of chickens has forced farmers to reduce their flocks resulting in […]

Just days into Trump’s second term, the WHO stopped getting communications on influenza from the US. Read more at straitstimes.com.

This report describes evidence of recent highly pathogenic avian influenza infection among three veterinary practitioners.

Pasteurization is the only widely recognized method of killing H5N1, the virus that causes bird flu, in milk. However, pasteurization can be expensive and fewer than 50% of large dairy farms pasteurize waste milk.

Three veterinary practitioners showed recent infection, with no known exposure to sick cattle

As cases of seasonal influenza surge, health officials are closely monitoring a growing threat—the potential fusion of human and bird flu strains.

Now that he has been confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kennedy must recognize that his performance is a matter of life and death on a population scale.

A new CDC report found evidence of previous bird flu infection in veterinary practitioners who work with cattle and who did not know they had been exposed.

After going quiet on bird flu, CDC scientists have published a report on its spread among veterinarians. The findings suggest a need for better surveillance.

A severe avian influenza outbreak has struck several provinces in China. Residents say infected chickens are still being allowed into the market. “We hope everyone pays attention,” pleaded Goose-Goose, a Chinese poultry farmer, in a recent video highlighting an avian flu outbreak impacting meat ducks and breeding geese in Shandong, Henan, and Hebei provinces. In […]

The vets had no symptoms, and one worked only in states where no dairy infections had been reported.

A CDC study has found H5N1 bird flu antibodies in veterinarians who had no symptoms and no knowledge they had been working with infected livestock.

What Makes the Bird Flu Virus So Unusual?

The H5 subtype of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) presents a continued threat to human health, intensifying with the H5N1 outbreak in cattle herds and …

There is a new H5N1 avian influenza variant on the loose. It is dubbed D1.1 bird flu. Is it safe to eat eggs? How should you be cooking them?

No one thought cows could catch flu; herds in Idaho have been infected twice with this strain, setting up worry that the virus could circulate endlessly on farms. There are no vaccines.

The H9N2 subtype of avian influenza virus poses significant challenges to global poultry and human health. During the active surveillance of avian influenza virus in wild birds in Shanghai from 2020 to 2023, a total of nine H9N2 viruses were identified. To better understand the genetic characteristi …

Bhopal: After samples from cats tested positive for H5N1 in Chhindwara town, the district administration has imposed a ban on the sale and consumption.

H5N1 is a human creation

Understanding the transmission routes of high-pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) is crucial for developing effective control measures to prevent its spread. In this context, windborne transmission, the idea that the virus can travel through the air over considerable distances, is a contentious concept and, documented cases are rare. Here, though, we provide genetic evidence supporting the feasibility of windborne transmission. During the 2023-24 HPAI season, molecular surveillance identified identical H5N1 strains among a cluster of unrelated commercial farms about 8 km apart in the Czech Republic. The episode started with the abrupt mortality of fattening ducks on one farm and was followed by disease outbreaks at two nearby high-biosecurity chicken farms. Using genetic, epizootiological, meteorological and geographical data, we reconstructed a mosaic of events strongly suggesting wind was the mechanism of infection transmission between poultry in at least two independent cases. By aligning the genetic and meteorological data with critical outbreak events, we determined the most likely time window during which the transmission occurred and inferred the sequence of infected houses at the recipient sites. Our results suggest that the contaminated plume emitted from the infected fattening duck farm was the critical medium of HPAI transmission, rather than the dust generated during depopulation. Furthermore, they also strongly implicate the role of confined mechanically-ventilated buildings with high population densities in facilitating windborne transmission and propagating virus concentrations below the minimum infectious dose at the recipient sites. These findings underscore the importance of considering windborne spread in future outbreak mitigation strategies. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

Keep up with news from the FDA, AAFCO and AFIA that pet food manufacturers need to know

Telangana has blocked poultry imports from Andhra Pradesh after a bird flu outbreak was confirmed in the East Godavari district. While Telangana set up 24 checkpoints at the border to prevent the virus from spreading, authorities in Andhra Pradesh sealed a poultry farm, culled 1,500 chickens, and declared a red zone.

Scientists have reported a new strain of bird flu in Nevada dairy cattle. And viral spread in pet cats has fueled worries over increased risk of exposure to humans

Minister Martin Heydon has introduced a compulsory housing order for poultry and captive birds, to protect them from the risk of bird flu.

More than 300 dead geese and other waterfowl have been discovered in five counties, and bird flu is likely to blame, officials say.

The virus has infected millions of the nation’s poultry and hundreds of dairy herds

The Ohio Department of Health is reporting the state’s first probable human case of bird flu.

Both patients, boys ages 2 and 15 years old, are from Hunan province in southern China.

This winter, a new version of H5N1 influenza, the same one behind a recent fatal case, has pummeled U.S. poultry