Category: Avian Influenza
The US hasn’t seen a human bird flu case in 3 months. Experts are wondering why
AP Health officials are making a renewed call for vigilance against bird flu, but some experts are puzzling over why reports of new human cases have stopped. Has the search for cases been weakened by government cuts? Are immigrant farm workers, who have accounted for many of the U.S. cases, more afraid to come forward […]
May 20, 2025
New model reveals H5N1 is spreading undetected in US dairy herds
Medical News A powerful simulation of H5N1 transmission across 35,974 US herds shows that the virus is far more widespread than reported, raising urgent calls for better farm surveillance and stronger disease control. In a recent study in the journal Nature Communications, researchers developed and tested a novel stochastic metapopulation transmission model to predict the scale, […]
May 14, 2025
How Close Is H5N1 to Reaching the Goal?
ISDE If H5N1 were on a soccer team, as one expert described it, it just might be able to score a goal: human-to-human transmission. With each mammal that becomes infected with H5N1 avian influenza virus, the concern for a human pandemic grows, especially since it has appeared in dairy cows because these animals do not normally get influenza (Viruses 2019;11[6]:561). […]
May 14, 2025
Discover What’s Next in Bird Flu: Must-Know Lessons from Last Year
Dairy Herd As the dairy industry moves into the second year of combating H5N1, maintaining momentum and commitment to biosecurity remains crucial. The past year has been a tumultuous period for the dairy industry, grappling with the onset of the H5N1 bird flu virus in dairy cattle. Dairy farmers have significantly strengthened biosecurity measures, and […]
May 14, 2025
Bird flu detection in tigress after her death prompts Indian state to shut down zoos
AA.com Uttar Pradesh state government orders closure of zoos in Lucknow and Kanpur, a day after similar precautionary measures implemented in Gorakhpur and Etawah following discovery of bird flu in tigress. The northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh closed its zoos to the public for a week on Wednesday, a day after bird flu was […]
May 14, 2025
USDA declares Vermont dairy farms are ‘unaffected’ by the bird flu epidemic: How they know
Burlington Press Vermont dairy farmers have achieved what the Agency of Agriculture called a “critical benchmark” from the U.S. Department of Agriculture − a declaration by USDA that Vermont is unaffected by bird flu, according to a news release. This winter, the Agency of Agriculture began a new milk sampling program mandated by the USDA to identify avian influenza-infected dairy […]
May 14, 2025
Staff exodus at US farm agency leaves fewer experts to battle bird flu
Reuters Hundreds of veterinarians, support staff and lab workers at the animal health arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture have left under the Trump administration’s push for resignations, according to three sources familiar with the situation, leaving fewer specialists to respond to animal disease outbreaks. The departures come as the country battles its longest-ever […]
May 14, 2025
Canada: Ostrich farm ‘devastated’ after federal judge rules cull of nearly 400 birds can proceed
CBC Farm suffered avian flu outbreak but owners have argued they did not pose wider risk. A B.C. ostrich farm says it is devastated by a federal court ruling Tuesday that upholds an order to have the nearly 400-bird flock killed due to the detection of avian flu, and hopes to continue to fight the […]
May 14, 2025
How dangerous is the H5N1 virus? Experts warn of its pandemic potential
MSN Virologists across the globe are raising alarms over the spread of the H5N1 avian flu virus, which is now infecting not just birds, but cattle and humans. While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently considers the risk to the general public low, scientists warn that the virus’s increasing reach could lead to another pandemic. In a […]
May 7, 2025
H5N1 Bird Flu Cases Have Slowed in Animals and People
Medpage Today Detections of H5N1 avian influenza have slowed in both animals and humans, but continued surveillance is warranted, CDC researchers said. In dairy cattle, cases surged over the fall and early winter but eased in January, while cases in poultry flocks fell after February, and came down last month in backyard flocks, according to data […]
May 7, 2025