Category: Avian Influenza
What Fresh Hell Is the New Bird-Flu Outbreak?
(The Intelligencer) Almost three years after COVID-19 rolled across America, the virus has never felt like less of a daily menace. But don’t worry: The possibility of another global pandemic is never very far off. Avian flu, specifically the H5N1 strain, has spread widely among bird populations and other animals in the last couple years. More concerning for humans, […]
Feb 7, 2023
Could bird flu in mink signal threat of a human pandemic?
(DW) A bird flu outbreak on a Spanish mink farm has alarmed scientists. The virus may be spreading for the first time from mammal to mammal — and could become a danger for humans. It started in October 2022, when several dead mink were discovered on a farm in Galicia in northwestern Spain. Veterinarians initially blamed the coronavirus. […]
Feb 7, 2023
Alarming Spread of Bird Flu Continues as More Species Infected
(Science Alert) Experts have warned that the recent detection of bird flu in mammals including foxes, otters, minks, seals, and even grizzly bears is concerning but emphasized that the virus would have to significantly mutate to spread between humans.
Feb 6, 2023
Free-Range Egg Supply at Risk as UK Poultry Kept Indoors While Bird-Flu Rages
(Bloomberg) UK chickens and hens will stay indoors until the country’s worst-ever bird flu outbreak abates further. While risk levels are reviewed weekly, housing orders in place since November in England may not lift until spring, when wild birds that carry the virus migrate elsewhere, Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said Tuesday. That means free-range eggs — […]
Jan 31, 2023
Three Montana Grizzly Bears Euthanized Last Fall Tested Positive for Avian Flu
(NYT) The bears are believed to have contracted the virus from diseased birds, amid what a U.S.D.A. spokesman called the “largest foreign animal disease outbreak in U.S. history.” Three young grizzly bears in Montana that were euthanized last fall later tested positive for the highly contagious avian influenza, the state’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks service announced […]
Jan 31, 2023
As egg prices soar, the deadliest bird flu outbreak in US history drags on
(ARS Technica) The ongoing bird flu outbreak in the US is now the longest and deadliest on record. More than 57 million birds have been killed by the virus or culled since a year ago, and the deadly disruption has helped propel skyrocketing egg prices and a spike in egg smuggling. Since highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) […]
Jan 31, 2023
Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infection in farmed minks, Spain, October 2022
(Eurosurveillance) This report describes an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) detected in intensively farmed minks in Europe, which occurred in the Galicia region in northwest Spain in October 2022. We present an in-depth description of the epidemiological, clinical and genetic investigations of this outbreak affecting a single farm and discuss public health […]
Jan 31, 2023
‘Incredibly concerning’: Bird flu outbreak at Spanish mink farm triggers pandemic fears
(Science) Spread among captive mink could give the H5N1 strain opportunities to evolve and adapt to mammals. When mink at a big farm in Galicia, a region in northwestern Spain, started to die in October 2022, veterinarians initially thought the culprit might be SARS-CoV-2, which has struck mink farms in several other countries. But lab […]
Jan 31, 2023
Mink-farm outbreak shows bird flu can spread between mammals
(Nature) A new variant of H5N1 influenza could pose an increased risk to people and wild animals. An outbreak of avian influenza on a mink farm in Spain provides the strongest evidence so far that the H5N1 strain of flu can spread from one infected mammal to another. The outbreak of H5N1 flu, described in […]
Jan 24, 2023
An ‘unprecedented pandemic of avian flu’ is wreaking havoc on the U.S. poultry industry. Humans may be at risk too, experts warn
(Fortune) The H5N1 strain of avian flu responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of birds in the U.S. in recent months, and countless more worldwide, poses an existential threat to the poultry industry in the U.S.—and a potentially widespread human health threat, experts say. The strain—first identified in domestic waterfowl in China in […]
Jan 24, 2023
