(Yahoo News) Revelations about the spread of avian flu at a Spanish mink farm in October are raising alarm. The mink were infected with an H5N1 variant known as 2.3.4.4b, which was discovered in 2020 and has since made its way around the world. While it is not uncommon for mammals to catch avian flu after direct contact with infected birds, the mink farm showed evidence of transmission between the mink themselves, “unprecedented among mammals,” Columbia University professor Zeynep Tufekci wrote at The New York Times.
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