{"id":11818,"date":"2026-04-08T14:42:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T19:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/?p=11818"},"modified":"2026-04-08T21:05:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T02:05:40","slug":"u-s-facing-largest-outbreak-of-bird-flu-in-its-history-including-backyard-flocks-in-kentucky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/2026\/04\/08\/u-s-facing-largest-outbreak-of-bird-flu-in-its-history-including-backyard-flocks-in-kentucky\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. facing largest outbreak of bird flu in its history, including backyard flocks in Kentucky"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.weku.org\/the-commonwealth\/2026-04-08\/u-s-facing-largest-outbreak-of-bird-flu-in-its-history-including-backyard-flocks-in-kentucky\">NPR<\/a> The&nbsp;U.S. is facing the largest outbreak of bird&nbsp;flu&nbsp;in its history. As birds migrate this spring, the virus can spread along major flyways through droppings, contaminated water, or direct contact, infecting backyard flocks, pet birds, and commercial poultry.&nbsp;Anyone who raises birds should understand the risks&nbsp;and how to protect their poultry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Chelsey Shivley, is a Critical Issues Manager in USDA Veterinary Services. She said this version of bird flu is difficult to contain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cit can spread by wild birds, often with no signs of illness, and it can infect our domestic poultry through both direct and indirect contact,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shivley said the primary symptom of an infected bird is death, but there are other signs people can notice early on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNeurological signs such as ataxia, lethargy. You might see decreased feed or water intake. You might see decreased egg production. If you see any of these signs it&#8217;s important to contact your veterinarian&#8217;s office, you can also contact your state veterinarian&#8217;s office,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.weku.org\/the-commonwealth\/2026-04-08\/u-s-facing-largest-outbreak-of-bird-flu-in-its-history-including-backyard-flocks-in-kentucky\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NPR The&nbsp;U.S. is facing the largest outbreak of bird&nbsp;flu&nbsp;in its history. As birds migrate this spring, the virus can spread along major flyways through droppings, contaminated water, or direct contact, infecting backyard flocks, pet birds, and commercial poultry.&nbsp;Anyone who raises birds should understand the risks&nbsp;and how to protect their poultry. Dr. Chelsey Shivley, is a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[37,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-avian-influenza","category-featured-headlines"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11819,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11818\/revisions\/11819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}