Bell Bird Control is very concerned about the spread of Avian Flu (called highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) or simply bird flu in all of its forms: H5N1 D1.1 genotype, H5N1 B3.13 genotype, Avian Metapneumovirus (aMPV), and H5N9) in the US.

Bell Bird Control is tracking the news closely and notes that encounters with birds and their droppings are suspected disease vectors. The bird flu outbreak has affected wild bird populations, which then in turn intermingle with farm animals, wild mammals, and poultry farms. The results have been infected cows, flu found in raw milk and dairy, the spread of illness and subsequent culling of chickens, egg-laying hens, and ducks. Wild fowl, large cats, and domestic cats have all gotten ill.

During this outbreak of HPAI, there has been transmission to 70 people in the US causing 1 fatality. Scientists are concerned about the flu morphing and evolving to allow human to human transmission.

We will track news and provide hyperlinks so you can read the updates from these local and national news sites, government resources, and public health experts.

Food prices are affected with general production of eggs hampered and birds as a source of protein being affected. A good question is why the bird flu’s impact on chicken prices has been relatively compared to egg prices which jumped significantly?

What's affected first - the chicken or the egg? In this case: the egg! Bird flu hits egg prices more immediately and substantially because egg-laying hens take longer to replace than broiler chickens for meat. Farmers note that it takes 6-8 weeks for chickens to reach their slaughter weight.

Whereas hens take 18 weeks for a chicken to start laying eggs. Hens lay about 5 eggs per week over the next 120 weeks before these chickens are sent to the happy pecking grounds.

In sum, egg supply declines last longer, while demand stays high. Chicken meat production has the ability to bounce back faster with shorter maturity cycles.

On February 10, 2025 CNN reported, “Egg prices have soared recently because of the avian influenza, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 40 million egg-laying birds last year. Due to the short supply, egg prices rose 14% from November to December alone — and they are projected to rise another 20% this year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.”

The United States is in talks with several countries in an effort to immediately secure new supplies as a short-term solution to the Avian Flu caused egg crisis. The US Department of Agriculture will also provide up to $1 billion in additional funding, The USDA secretary wrote in an opinion essay published on February 26, 2025in The Wall Street Journal.

That includes distributing up to $500 million to egg producers to enhance disease prevention measures, $400 million in financial relief to farmers whose flocks are affected by the flu and $100 million toward research and development for vaccines and therapeutics.

CDC finds vets working with dairy cattle unknowingly exposed to H5N1 avian flu.

In other developments, the US Centers for Disease Control, finally issued an update on Avian flu to its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which showed that some veterinarians working with cattle were unknowingly infected with the H5N1 (avian flu) virus last year.

The report is the latest to indicate that the outbreak in dairy cattle is spreading further under the wire. The CDC report was one of several MMWR reports on avian flu that were to have been released three weeks ago. 

In other report published this week, the CDC cited new USDA data on the rapid spread of H5N1 bird flu in poultry, showing some 157 million birds have so far been affected, since the first detections in 2022. The outbreak has caught the attention of the US public as the price of eggs soars to a 50-year high. 

News 4 KTIV - Bird flu in SD: Millions of birds dead, worry shifts to humans - As bird flu ravages poultry farms across the country – including in South Dakota – fears are growing that the highly contagious avian influenza virus could mutate and begin to spread widely among the world’s human population. The virus already has caused devastating effects in the state, which has seen the second-highest number of outbreaks in commercial poultry flocks in the nation. The 114 commercial outbreaks in South Dakota, along with another 26 backyard flock infections, have led to the death or intentional killing of more than 6 million turkeys, chickens and other birds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Many of the outbreaks in the state, the latest coming in January, have been at turkey farms operated by Hutterite colonies in the eastern half of the state, including at the Oaklane Hutterite Colony near Bridgewater.

“We’re afraid this virus could cause a human pandemic because humans have very little immunity against this particular avian flu virus,” Scott Hensley, a leading bird flu researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a January video presentation. “The problem is that flu viruses acquire mutations all the time. And we know that the virus is only one or two mutations away from being able to cause severe disease in humans.”

The current risk to humans, especially those outside the agriculture industry, remains “very low,” according to the CDC. So far, the bird flu virus has not been found to bind well to human cells or take hold in the human respiratory system. But the virus has already shown a ready ability to mutate, not unlike how the Influenza A and B and COVID-19 viruses show slight mutations each year. Bird flu can be spread through direct contact, by breathing airborne particles or through shared water sources.

The spread of infection from wild migrating birds to captive poultry flocks, and the subsequent mutations from birds to bovines and now cats is a cause for alarm, said Todd Tetrow, the director of veterinary services at Dakota Provisions, a large turkey processing company in Huron.

“It can jump species, so anytime there’s virus out there, and other species can be exposed, it can sure jump,” Tetrow told News Watch. “Anytime it jumps into a new species, there’s more concern and thoughts that this thing is getting to where it’s scary for humans.”

MSNBC - Bird flu has become ‘financially and psychologically devastating’ to farmers - Since 2022, more than 150 million birds have been affected by avian influenza, ravaging flocks and impacting the availability of eggs. NBC News national reporter Suzy Khimm joins Alex Witt to report on the latest developments around the outbreak, including fresh worries brought on by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

NBC News - How bird flu has devastated one American farm: Stray feathers litter the ground inside the empty coop at Kakadoodle Farm. A few beige eggshells crunch underfoot. No hens were left alive.

Bloomberg - US Sounds Out Italy Egg Producers Amid Shortages in Easter Runup

Bloomberg - What Happened When the Trump Administration Ordered a CDC Blackout - Documents obtained by FOIA Files reveal the chaotic turn of events at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after the Trump administration ordered the agency to stop communicating with the public. On Jan. 21, a day after President Donald Trump took office, his administration directed HHS and its subordinate agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health to immediately “pause” all external communications. The pause was supposed to be lifted on Feb. 1, according to memos and emails. The CDC was also prohibited from publicly sharing any information about their work responding to the bird flu. Just a few weeks earlier, the Louisiana Department of Health reported the first US death from the virus.

The bird flu’s response team was told that if there are “documents or communications that may affect critical health, safety, environmental, financial or national security functions of the department, there is a mechanism by which it can be reviewed.” But, agency officials noted in another email, “the bar for exceptions is very high, as they must be sent up to HHS for approval.”

NBC9 News Colorado - 11 Colorado cats sickened with bird flu: The Colorado Department of Agriculture said domestic cats appear to be highly susceptible to the illness - State officials issued a warning to pet owners after the most recent strain of bird flu was found in nearly a dozen Colorado cats. The Colorado Department of Agriculture said in a Facebook post that the state has detected Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in 11 domestic cats, including both indoor-only and indoor-outdoor cats. Only one cat survived. 

The Verge - We’ve entered a forever war with bird flu - The threat of an H5N1 pandemic is here to stay.

The Atlantic -The Bird-Flu Tipping Point - If and when it happens, we might not know until it’s too late.

The Guardian - US agriculture department announces $100m in funding for bird flu vaccine research

Fox News -New outbreak of deadly bird flu strain confirmed for first time in 8 years

New York Times - Kennedy’s Alarming Prescription for Bird Flu on Poultry Farms - The health secretary has suggested allowing the virus to spread, so as to identify birds that may be immune. Such an experiment would be disastrous, scientists say. - Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s top health official, has an unorthodox idea for tackling the bird flu bedeviling U.S. poultry farms. Let the virus rip. Instead of culling birds when the infection is discovered, farmers “should consider maybe the possibility of letting it run through the flock so that we can identify the birds, and preserve the birds, that are immune to it,” Mr. Kennedy said recently on Fox News. He has repeated the idea in other interviews on the channel. Mr. Kennedy does not have jurisdiction over farms. But Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, also has voiced support for the notion. “There are some farmers that are out there that are willing to really try this on a pilot as we build the safe perimeter around them to see if there is a way forward with immunity,” Ms. Rollins told Fox News last month.

The Hill - H5N1 bird flu spread ‘unprecedented,’ UN agency warns - A United Nations food agency warned that the continued spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus is an unprecedented food security risk that requires a coordinated global response. In a briefing held on March 17, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations cited the loss of hundreds of millions of poultry around the world and the increasing spillover into mammals as key concerns stemming from the spread of the H5N1 bird flu. The agency noted a major shift in bird flu’s geographic spread in the past four years, with at least 300 newly affected wild bird species since 2021. Calling the spread unprecedented, FAO Deputy Director-General Godfrey Magwenzi said the disease was “leading to serious impacts on food security and food supply in countries, including loss of valuable nutrition, rural jobs and income, shocks to local economies, and of course increasing costs to consumers.” FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol called for a coordinated global response, saying, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. By working together, we can reduce the impact of avian influenza and protect both animal and human health – locally and globally.”

AP - What to know about the bird flu outbreak in wild birds and what it means for backyard bird feeders- What has been the toll on wild birds? More than 170 species of North American wild birds – including ducks, geese, gulls, owls, eagles and others – have been infected with bird flu. Take precautions around sick or dead wild birds, experts recommend. But you can keep your bird feeder up. Despite the spread in birds and other wild animals, scientists say the threat to the general population is currently low.

University of Delaware - Bird flu battle stations: UD on the frontline of avian influenza - For Georgie Cartanza, the flying V formations migrating overhead are cause for concern. As the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension poultry extension agent, Cartanza knows the odds are high that the wild birds are carrying avian influenza, which, if spread, is a direct threat to millions of broiler chickens raised on the peninsula — a $5 billion industry. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or bird flu, is an extremely contagious airborne respiratory virus that spreads quickly among birds through nasal and eye secretions and manure droppings. It’s fatal to commercial poultry. “One wild bird dropping contains enough virus to infect 1 million birds,” Cartanza warned growers in a fact sheet. “We cannot control where wild birds defecate, but we can take steps to prevent this virus from entering the houses.”

Bloomberg - First US Outbreak of H7N9 Bird Flu Since 2017 Spurs Health Worry - H7N9, which is separate from the H5N1 strain that has been sweeping through flocks across the US, was detected in a commercial broiler breeder chicken flock in Mississippi, the World Organization of Animal Health said in a Monday alert. The outbreak, confirmed on a Noxubee County farm last week, affected 47,654 birds. The subtype, first found over a decade ago in China, “is of concern because most patients have become severely ill,” though it “does not appear to transmit easily” between people, according to the World Health Organization. Most human infections have occurred after exposure to live poultry or contaminated environments. More than 600 people in China have died of H7N9 since 2013, out of a total 1,568 confirmed infections.

Researchers in Thailand in 2013 indicated that the mortality rate in H7N9 was lower than for the H5N1 strain. But the virus appeared to spread faster, potentially making it more severe were it to mutate. The case in Mississippi was likely caused by wild birds and is a “fully North American” virus, unrelated to the H5N1 strain, the US Department of Agriculture said in a statement.

Newsday -What to know about the bird flu outbreak in wild birds and what it means for backyard bird feeders

Reuters -US reports first outbreak of deadly H7N9 bird flu since 2017

CNN - As bird flu continues to spread, Trump administration sidelines key pandemic preparedness office

Politico - UN agency warns of ‘unprecedented’ bird flu threat as H5N1 virus jumps to mammals

US News - Bird Flu Virus May Survive Aging Process in Raw Milk Cheese

USA Today - Deadly bird flu strain outbreak reported in US: How easily does it spread?

The Hill - Mississippi reports first outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu strain in US since 2017

Fox 8 News - More cat food recalled due to ‘bird flu’ risk - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting pet owners that more cat food is being recalled because it could be contaminated with bird flu, also known as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1. The most recent recall applies to certain lots Savage Cat Food‘s large and small chicken boxes which were sold at retailers in California, Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington. According to the alert, in February, the company became aware of one cat in Colorado who contracted H5N1, got sick, and recovered. The product in question was removed from the market while testing took place. Then, on March 13, Savage Pet was made aware of an additional case in New York where a kitten contracted avian flu. 

News 12 - Bird flu and cats: New Jersey vets warn of potential virus spread

Fox 29 - Bird flu detected in Philadelphia live poultry market: USDA

NY Post - Brooklyn kitten ID’d as second NYC avian flu victim after contracting virus from another cat

AMNY - Bird flu: Two NYC cats die in cases linked to raw cat food product

LA Times - Bird flu mutation associated with increased disease severity found in two cats

Scientific American - How to Protect Pets and Backyard Chickens from Bird Flu

Patch - Bird Flu Suspected In Birds' Deaths Near Mill Pond: Report

WHYY - New Jersey remains vigilant about bird flu amid growing number of cases

CBS 8 - First cases of California residents with bird flu traced to Central Valley

WBAL TV - 7th bird flu case reported in Maryland; here's what officials recommend to keep flocks safe

SCIENCE.ORG -Deadly avian flu strain is spreading rapidly in Antarctica

Bloomberg - EU Egg Prices Soar to Highest in Over a Decade as Bird Flu Hits

TAPinto -Westfield Regional Health Department Warns of Bird Flu in Cats

Bloomberg - Health Secretary RFK Jr. Calls for Intensive Testing of Bird Flu Drugs on Poultry

Patch - Westchester Park To Reopen Wednesday After Bird Flu Decontamination

Independent - Trump’s team wants vaccines to stop bird flu. RFK Jr. says it could turn ‘flocks into mutation factories’

Forbes - Egg Prices: 10% Jump Last Month Amid Bird Flu Outbreak—Here’s What To Know

Bloomberg - Egg Prices Set to Ease as Shoppers Give Up After 60% Surge - Prices rose 10% in February but have declined in recent weeks, Consumer demand weakens after eggs soared to a record.

LA Times - Bird flu-infected San Bernardino County dairy cows may have concerning new mutation

New Scientist - H5N1 flu is now killing birds on the continent of Antarctica

Bloomberg - Brazil to Nearly Double Egg Exports as US Reels From Shortages

University of Minnesota - Many US parents feel uninformed about avian flu risks, survey finds

CBS News - In bird flu fight, Agriculture Department almost doubling the $1.1 billion already spent

Guardian -What is bird flu, and should you be worried about it?

Drug Topics - Experts Warn Public to Prepare for Potential Bird Flu Pandemic

Detroit News - Two domestic cats infected with H5N1 virus in Michigan

NBC News - Your questions about bird flu, answered

Farm Bureau Georgia GFB News Magazine - Avian Flu Found In Georgia Commercial Flocks - Two commercial poultry farms in Elbert County located about 210 yards apart tested positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in January. One farm had broiler breeders that produce fertilized eggs incubated at a hatchery to supply broilers and the other grew broilers,  chickens raised for meat, the Georgia Department of Agriculture reported.  The Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network (GPLN) confirmed Jan. 16 that the first farm had HPAI after the producer noticed his flock showing clinical signs of avian flu on Jan. 15. On Jan. 17, the GPLN found samples collected from the second poultry farm in routine pre-movement testing were positive for HPAI. No other cases were found in commercial flocks, and by March 4, Georgia regained its HPAI-free status from the World Organization for Animal Health. This designation allows Georgia poultry products to resume being exported. On Feb. 10, the GDA lifted the suspension it placed in January on poultry activities in Georgia involving live birds including sales at auctions, flea & livestock markets, swaps and exhibitions.

Bloomberg - Justice Department Opens Antitrust Probe Into Egg Price Spike

WGRZ - More bird flu testing pushed as egg prices keep climbing

Harvard Medical School -Are We on the Cusp of a Major Bird Flu Outbreak?

My Central Jersey - Four more NJ cats test positive for bird flu. Here's what we know

nbc4i - Governor Mike DeWine to address bird flu concerns in Ohio

wunc.org - A poultry disease expert at NC State explains bird flu

Cepi - The world should prepare now for a potential H5N1 flu pandemic, experts warn

CBS News - RFK Jr. warns vaccinating poultry for bird flu could backfire

Sci Tech Daily -Revolutionary Bird Flu Sensor Detects H5N1 in Minutes

ABC 7 NY - Dozens of birds infected by bird flu at NYC poultry market

Scientific American - The Latest on Egg Prices and a Bird Flu Vaccine in Jeopardy

Fox 8 - Geese found dead at Wade Lagoon, believed to have bird flu: ODNR

NY Post - Hundreds of birds in NYC infected by bird flu after poultry markets allowed to reopen

my central jersey - First NJ deadly bird flu case in feral cat found in Hunterdon County - The first feline case of the bird flu in New Jersey has been confirmed in a feral cat in Hunterdon County, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.

The case was confirmed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory, and follows previous reports of confirmed feline cases in other states. The state has not disclosed the municipality where the cat was found.

The cat developed severe disease, including neurologic signs, and was humanely euthanized, according to the state Health Department.

Other cats on the same property were also reported ill, and one indoor-outdoor cat was subsequently confirmed positive for the disease.

NYTimes.com - Wild Coast Raw Food for Cats Is Recalled Over Bird Flu Risk

TheGuardian.com - $5 a dozen: major egg companies may be using avian flu to hike US prices, new report finds

independent.co.uk -Cat food recalled due to possible bird flu contamination

www.stlpr.org - WashU engineers make microwave-size bird flu detector amid outbreak

wgntv.com - Bald eagle with suspected bird flu dies in Northwest Indiana

Fox 13 - 2 indoor cats contract bird flu in WA

nj.com - N.J. cat euthanized after bird flu infection. Pet owners warned.

Patch - 1st Cat In NJ Confirmed With Bird Flu In Hunterdon County

UMN.EDU - New Jersey reports H5 avian flu cluster in cats

Politico - Trump administration struggles to rehire fired bird flu employees - USDA supervisors are being asked to justify rehires and some employees still haven’t gotten their laptops back.

NY Times - Agriculture Department Looks to Import Eggs as Prices Soar - The United States is in talks with several countries in an effort to immediately secure new supplies.

Bloomberg News - Trump Team Weighs Pulling Funds for Moderna Bird Flu Vaccine - Government moves to review funding for mRNA vaccines. Biden administration had awarded contract in its final days.

CBS News - U.S. officials walk back plans to stop culling poultry for bird flu

CNN Health - Could bird flu vaccines help tackle high egg prices? Experts say it’s not so simple

NY Magazine - Bird Flu Wiped Out His Entire Farm - Doug Corwin was forced to cull 100,000 ducks after the virus came to his century-old Long Island farm. Crescent is hardly the first farm to be hit by bird flu recently. Over the past three years, 162.6 million domestic and commercial birds have been infected. As of February 19, the USDA has confirmed outbreaks in 157 flocks, affecting more than 23 million birds so far this year. Wild birds are dying in unknown numbers; egg prices are soaring. (When a strain of the virus jumped from birds to cows recently, an evolutionary biologist told the New York Times, “This is not what anyone wanted to see.”) It’s not the first time Corwin has seen an outbreak — during his career, he has witnessed three, each of which, he says, was seasonal and contained by the USDA’s policy of flock depopulation. But to him, this time feels different: “I’ve never seen anything as contagious and as virulent as this, nothing that even compares.”

The Guardian - Alarm as bird flu now ‘endemic in cows’ while Trump cuts staff and funding

CBS News Minnesota - Minnesota to test raw milk for bird flu virus

BBC - Farmers say bird flu a 'crisis' as egg prices soar

Fox Business - Border Patrol sees uptick in egg smuggling on southern border amid skyrocketing prices

NY Post - Some of NYC’s 500K stray cats could be infected with bird flu — possibly threatening humans: activists

NY Times - Bird Flu in Cows Is a Slow-Motion Disaster

NY Times - Dairy Workers May Have Passed Bird Flu to Pet Cats, C.D.C. Study Suggests

CBS News - Bird flu confirmed in rats for first time, USDA reports

Bloomberg News - Bird Flu Kills Dairy Workers’ Cats, Suggesting A Viral Change: Movement Between Species Indicates New Mutations In h5N1

CBS 8 - Rats infected with the bird flu discovered in Riverside County

CBS Minnesota - Minnesota bird flu, wolf tracking programs clouded in uncertainty amid Trump’s federal funding freeze

CBS Minnesota - Minnesota has confirmed there are three separate viruses infecting birds and cattle.

NBC News - USDA says it accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is now trying to rehire them

AP News - As egg prices soar, Trump administration plans new strategy to fight bird flu

Fox News - Minnesota Declares State Of Emergency As Diseases Cripple Midwestern Farms: Three different viruses are affecting animals.

The Travel - Minnesota Declares State Of Emergency Amid A Trifecta of Viral Outbreaks

NY Post - Wyoming woman hospitalized with bird flu after virus kills her chickens

Science - U.S. Conditionally Approves Vaccine To Protect Poultry From Avian Flu

NY Post - US egg farmers worry fight against bird flu is unwinnable as experts consider vaccinations: ‘I call this virus a terrorist’

ABC News - 2nd bird flu virus detected in western US. What does this mean for prevention? The different strain, D1.1, was recently found in cattle for the first time.

CIDRAP - Avian flu hits more commercial and backyard poultry in 9 states

NY Magazine - How Freaked Out Should We Be About Bird Flu?

AP - US eggs prices hit a record high of $4.95 and are likely to keep climbing

PBS News - CDC finds evidence that bird flu spread silently to veterinarians, suggesting undercount of cases

NPR - After delay, CDC releases data signaling bird flu spread undetected in cows and people   

CBS News - What to know about bird flu in 2025, from how it's spread to symptoms and egg impacts

CDC - Notes from the Field: Seroprevalence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5) Virus Infections Among Bovine Veterinary Practitioners — United States, September 2024

NYC.GOV - Mayor Adams Announces City Health Department Precautions After Birds Test Positive for Bird flu

The Columbus Dispatch - Ohio Department of Health reports first human case of bird flu in the state

Crain’s New York Business - New York braces for bird flu risk

News 12 NJ - New Jersey live poultry markets ordered to undergo cleaning amid uptick in bird flu cases.

CNN - Costco and Trader Joe’s are limiting how many eggs people can buy

News Medical - House cats with bird flu could pose a risk to public health

NJ.com -Avian flu suspected in deaths of 30 wild birds found on N.J. river banks

NY Post - Activists accuse NYC shops of selling ‘sickly’ chickens in scramble before bird-flu shutdown

New York State - Governor Hochul Announces Additional Measures to Prevent Spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Poultry - New York State Issues Notice and Order Requiring Cleaning, Disinfection, and Temporary Closure of all Live Bird Markets in New York City, Westchester, Suffolk and Nassau Counties. Proactive Effort Will Facilitate a Break in HPAI Virus Transmission Within the Markets and Further Protect Animal and Public Health. Follows Detection of Avian Flu at Seven Live Bird Markets in Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. Builds on Governor Hochul’s Continued Direction to State Agencies To Take Proactive Prevention Measures as Risk to Humans Remains Low

Crain's New York Business - Live bird markets in the city, suburbs shuttered after avian flu detected

NY Times - C.D.C. Posts, Then Deletes, Data on Bird Flu Spread Between Cats and People - The data, which appeared fleetingly online on Wednesday February 5, 2025, confirmed transmission in two households. Scientists called on the agency to release the full report.

Lohud.com - Bird flu confirmed in Rockland; H5N1 suspected in other dead geese found in Spring Valley - If you find more than one dead bird in one place, report it using the NYSDEC Avian Influenza Reporting form, which can be found at dec.ny.gov. The Canada goose tested for H5N1 was found in Lake Lucille. Other dead geese found in Spring Valley's Memorial Park weren't tested but bird flu is considered likely.

China CDC Weekly - Outbreak Reports: Infection Tracing and Virus Genomic Analysis of Two Cases of Human Infection with Avian Influenza A(H5N6) — Fujian Province, China, April–May 2024 - "Genetic analyses revealed that while the virus maintains its avian host tropism, it has acquired mutations that may enhance human receptor binding affinity, viral replication capacity, pathogenicity, and neuraminidase inhibitor resistance."

Gothamist - Bird flu suspected in deaths across multiple species at Queens and Bronx zoo - The avian flu has recently killed as many as 15 birds at the Queens and Bronx zoos, officials confirmed to Gothamist on Friday, revealing new details about the extent of the outbreak that prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to shutter live poultry markets around the city. The rash of infections has also killed a red tailed hawk in the Bronx and a great horned owl in Queens, according to records from the Department of Environmental Protection.

Los Angeles Times - A cat in San Mateo was diagnosed with bird flu on the same day the CDC deleted evidence that cats may transmit the virus to humans - Scientists found that a pet cat in San Mateo County died of complications related to H5N1 bird flu. The virus was also discovered in a backyard poultry flock in Redwood City. Meanwhile, the CDC published data showing that the disease can be transmitted from cats to humans — but those data were removed within minutes of their initial publication.

NY Magazine - All the Latest Unnerving Bird-Flu Developments

NY Times - 20 Big Cats Die From Bird Flu at a Washington Sanctuary

Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy - Nine states report more avian flu in poultry, including more layer farms

NY Times - Cows Have Been Infected With a Second Form of Bird Flu - A new version of the virus is widespread in wild birds but had not previously been detected in cows.

CIDRAP - USDA confirms spillover of 2nd H5N1 avian flu genotype into dairy cattle - he US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced a new spillover of H5N1 avian flu to dairy cattle, which involves the D1.1 genotype currently circulating in wild birds and has been implicated in human infections, including the fatal case in a Louisiana resident who had contact with sick backyard birds.

Until now, all dairy herd H5N1 detections have involved the B3.13 genotype, thought to be the result of a single spillover from wild birds in late 2023 or early 2024. The genotype has been linked to mild infections in dairy workers, along with some poultry cullers, with conjunctivitis the main symptom.

"Genotype D1.1 represents the predominant genotype in the North American flyways this past fall and winter and has been identified in wild birds, mammals, and spillovers into domestic poultry," APHIS said in its statement.

Reuters - Second bird flu strain found in US dairy cattle, USDA says - Second bird flu strain detected in dairy cattle for first time. Detection came through national milk testing program. Containment is critical, veterinary expert says

NY Times - Could the Bird Flu Become Airborne? - Scientists were slow to recognize that Covid spreads through the air. Some are now trying to get ahead of the bird flu.

NY State Department of Health - HEALTH ADVISORY: Accelerated Subtyping of Influenza A in Hospitalized Patients - CDC & NY State is now recommending the IMMEDIATE testing & subtyping of all hospitalized flu A cases & unknown/suspected flu cases—in order to identify human bird flu. Bell Bird Control infers that the CDC is concerned if avian flu has now crossed into wide community transmission.

Patch - Bird Flu Kills Almost All Chickens, Ducks On A Hudson Valley Farm

University of Pennsylvania - Avian Flu: An Explainer - Scott Hensley, professor of microbiology at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, discusses the avian flu, the virus’s jump into mammals, and vaccine development at the University.

Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy - Avian flu strikes second biggest US egg producer

NY Magazine - Think Eggs Are Expensive? Try Buying 2,700 of Them Each Week: At B&H Dairy, soaring prices have become untenable.

Vox.com - Eggs are pricey again. What’s the government doing about it? And four other burning bird flu questions, answered. - Bird flu is surging in the US again and has, once again, sent egg prices skyrocketing. Nearly 13 million birds have been infected or culled in the past month alone, contributing to shortages. A carton of eggs today costs more than $4 on average, up from about $2.50 a year ago.

Prices aren’t the only thing making headlines — the virus has recently taken a human life, too. After nearly three years of warnings from leading public health and animal agriculture experts that bird flu was becoming a threat to human beings, Louisiana health officials reported earlier this month that an individual died from the virus, the first reported human death in the US from bird flu.

This particular strain of bird flu, H5N1, has been circulating in the US and infecting poultry since February 2022. So far, millions of birds have been infected or were culled to prevent further spread. But, as Vox reported previously, the concern has always been that this strain could jump from birds, then to another animal, and then to humans, and evolve along the way into something much deadlier to humans.

In March 2024, the virus made its way to US dairy cows. About a month later, Americans began getting infected in greater numbers — the majority of those infected, health officials say, were exposed to commercial cattle or poultry farms. Today, nearly 1,000 cattle herds across 16 states have been affected, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The deceased Louisiana patient, however, was infected by backyard poultry wild birds. The individual was older than 65 years old and had underlying medical conditions, which likely increased their risk for severe disease and death, as it does for conventional flu.

This case brings the total number of documented human infections in the US to 67. Human infections have been reported in 10 states so far, but most cases have occurred in California, where the governor declared a state of emergency in December 2024.

NY Times - Egg Prices Are High. They Will Likely Go Higher. - Avian influenza has led to a shortage of eggs and wholesale prices that are through the roof. Consumers can expect to feel the pain for a while.Item description

NY Magazine - Bird Flu Is Wiping Out the City’s Duck Supply

NJ Star Ledger nj.com - 140 wild birds in N.J. likely died from the bird flu. Here’s why that’s important.

NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection - Murphy Administration Updates Public on Steps Being Taken to Track and Respond to H5N1 Avian Influenza - Outbreak Reported in Localized Wild Bird Populations, Public Health Threats Remain Low. The Murphy Administration today reminded the public that state agencies continue to aggressively monitor occurrences of H5N1 avian influenza, also known as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), in domestic and wild bird populations. While there have been recent confirmations of deaths in localized wild bird populations in parts of New Jersey, there have been no recent reports in domestic poultry or cattle and no human infections in the state.

northjersey.com - New Jersey ramps up efforts to fight bird flu after spike in wild bird deaths - Since late December 2024, the virus has been detected in wild birds at over 30 sites statewide, officials said. Clusters of sick and dead birds, mostly snow geese and Canada geese, were reported in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Salem and Warren counties.

University of Chicago Medicine - 7 things you can do to prevent getting bird flu - 1. Only consume pasteurized dairy products. 2. Refrigerate — and cook — your eggs, meat and poultry. 3. Get your human influenza vaccine. 4. Protect and vaccinate your pets. 5. Avoid contact with wild, sick or dead birds and livestock. 6. Wash your hands thoroughly and often. 7. Follow public health recommendations.

North Jersey .com - North Jersey wastewater sample tests positive for bird flu. Here's what it means - A wastewater sample from the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission tested positive for H5 bird flu this week, according to WastewaterSCAN, a monitoring program.

AP - First US bird flu death is announced in Louisiana - The first U.S. bird flu death has been reported — a person in Louisiana who had been hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms.

State health officials announced the death on Monday, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed it was the nation’s first due to bird flu.

Health officials have said the person was older than 65, had underlying medical problems and had been in contact with sick and dead birds in a backyard flock. They also said a genetic analysis had suggested the bird flu virus had mutated inside the patient, which could have led to the more severe illness.

Forbes - Bird flu could merge with seasonal flu to make mutated virus that could spread among humans, CDC warns - If taking charge of your health is among your New Year’s resolutions, you might consider getting your 2024–25 seasonal influenza shot if you haven’t already. While it won’t protect you from H5N1 bird flu per se, immunization could play a pivotal part in warding off a bird flu pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The potential for danger lies in H5N1’s genetic pliability, according to Edwin Michael, PhD, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida College of Public Health.

“For example, if a human gets infected with a bird flu and also carries a human influenza A virus, these two viruses can exchange genetic material. This is known as genetic shift,” Michael previously told Fortune. “That can form very new viruses [and] cause epidemics.”

Immunization reduces the prevalence and severity of seasonal flu, the CDC says, thereby reducing the “very rare” but possible risk of coinfection, “which could pose a significant public health concern.”

NBC News - In severe bird flu cases, the virus can mutate as it lingers in the body - As the seasonal flu picks up, there are even more opportunities for the bird flu to acquire mutations as the different influenza viruses mix.

A 13-year-old girl in British Columbia who was hospitalized with bird flu for several weeks late last year harbored a mutated version of the virus, according to a report published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

The case was Canada’s first recorded human infection of avian influenza, which has infected at least 66 people in the United States since last March, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This includes the nation’s first severe case, in Louisiana in December. 

So far, nearly all of the cases of bird flu in North America have been mild, with symptoms including conjunctivitis, or pink eye, and runny nose, chills, cough and sore throat.  Virus samples showed that once it was in the body, it mutated in ways that would allow it to stick to cells in the mucous membrane lining the upper respiratory tract. 

Salon.com - How America lost control of bird flu, setting the stage for another pandemic

Salon.com - "Concerning" bird flu mutations in Louisiana patient underscores pandemic potential of H5N1

NY Magazine - How Alarming Is the H5N1 Bird-Flu Mutation in Louisiana? - So what is concerning about this case in Louisiana?
That we are seeing a huge increase in the number of human cases. These mutations are a good example of what happens when you have a human case. You start to see the virus begin to adapt to a human host. Even though this particular virus from this particular case isn’t a huge concern in terms of onward transmission, if we’re having human cases tick up and up and up, we’re going to give the virus more chances to develop mutations. And if that’s not detected and starts spreading in the human population, that’s a very good way to have a pandemic start out of this.

The other concern is the timing of all of these cases, which are ticking up right during flu season. If you get infected with two influenza viruses at the same time — so H5N1 and a seasonal influenza strain — a process can occur that’s called reassortment. That’s essentially like shuffling two decks of cards together, ending up making new viruses that have a combination of segments from both of the viruses that were infecting the person. That can lead to really, really rapid evolutionary jumps and rapid adaptation to a new host.

Most of the historical flu pandemics have been associated with reassortment. The current cattle outbreak is itself a recent reassortment between two different avian influenza strains. Some serology studies show that, at least with farm workers, there are cases going undetected. And if there are more human cases, that is giving the virus more opportunity to get experience with the human host and increasing the chance of reassortment because it’s seasonal-flu time of year.

CNN - We ‘have our head in the sand’: Health experts warn US isn’t reacting fast enough to threat of bird flu - The US hasn’t learned lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic that it could use to mitigate the threat of pathogens like H5N1 bird flu that keep showing signs of their own pandemic potential, health experts told CNN.

“We kind of have our head in the sand about how widespread this is from the zoonotic standpoint, from the animal-to-human standpoint,” Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under President Donald Trump, said on “CNN Newsroom” with Pamela Brown.

CIDRAP - CDC: H5N1 mutations in severely ill patient could boost spread, but risk remains low - The genetic analysis of the H5N1 avian flu virus in specimens from the nation's first severely ill hospitalized patient in Louisianareveals mutations that may enable upper-airway infection and greater transmission, concludes a technical summaryfrom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

STAT News - CDC says H5N1 bird flu sample shows mutations that may help the virus bind to cells in the upper airways of people - H5N1 bird flu in patient shows mutations likely gained post-infection

NY Times - California Declares an Emergency Over Bird Flu in Cattle

Salon.com - LA County warns bird flu is killing cats as human cases top 65 nationwide

NY Times - How Worried Should We Be About Bird Flu?

NJ Department of Health - First H5 Influenza Detection in Wastewater in New Jersey

Salon.com - A single mutation could make bird flu much worse, study finds

NY Times - Agriculture Department to Require Testing of U.S. Milk Supply for Bird Flu Virus

NY Times - How the Messy Process of Milking Cows Can Spread Bird Flu

On America’s large dairy farms, milking is a vast operation, and the potential for disease transmission is worrying, health experts say.

NY Times Bird Flu, Explained

NY Times - A Bird Flu Pandemic Would Be One of the Most Foreseeable Catastrophes in History

NY Times - Opinion: I Ran Operation Warp Speed. I’m Concerned About Bird Flu. - As Donald Trump gets ready to return to the White House on Jan. 20, he must be prepared to tackle one issue immediately: the possibility that the spreading avian flu might mutate to enable human-to-human transmission.

I was the Biden administration’s chief science officer during Covid-19. I was a co-leader of Operation Warp Speed, which began in Mr. Trump’s first term to accelerate the development of Covid-19 vaccines. I worked on the purchase and rollout of hundreds of millions of doses and on developing antiviral treatments. One of my jobs was to assess the trajectory of the virus.

Now I am back at my job teaching at the medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. I have been monitoring the spread of bird flu, also known as H5N1, and discussing the situation with colleagues around the country. My concern is growing.

So far, there have been no reports of person-to-person spread of H5N1, though there have been at least 55 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans in the United States, almost entirely among poultry and dairy workers. Those infections are presumed to be primarily the result of contact with animals. In addition, a child in Alameda County in California with minor respiratory symptoms tested positive for H5N1 recently; it is unclear how the child became infected. There are probably other cases out there that are not being diagnosed….

As for vaccines, there has been modest progress on candidates for mRNA vaccines, which stimulate the body’s immune system against a specific virus. The candidates could offer more effective countermeasures in response to worrisome mutations. Importantly, the companies that increased production of the mRNA vaccines during Covid-19 are developing bird flu vaccines.

Fortunately, the country already has five million doses of the influenza A (H5) vaccine on hand, and another five million doses will probably be ready by the end of the year. That is enough to cover the farmworker community. That vaccine is expected to have similar effectiveness to that of our seasonal flu vaccines, from 30 to 70 percent.

No one knows how many mutations will be required to set off human-to-human respiratory spread. That could require many mutations and may never happen. But we could also be just two or three mutations away. If the virus begins to transmit efficiently among humans, it will be very difficult to contain, according to the Johns Hopkins assessment, and “the likelihood of a pandemic is very high.”

The incoming Trump administration needs to be prepared.

CNN - CNN BUSINESS NEWS Egg prices are going even higher. This time it’s Avian flu and the holidays

NY Times - The World Is Watching the U.S. Deal With Bird Flu, and It’s Scary

American Farm Bureau Federation - Avian Influenza Hits Turkeys and Eggs Hardest

Healio Infectious Disease News - Q&A: First case of bird flu in a US pig raises concern

Scientific American - A Bird Flu Vaccine Might Come Too Late to Save Us from H5N1 - If the influenza virus infecting cattle workers starts a pandemic, help in the form of a vaccine is months away

CNN - The U.S. is entering a riskier season for the spread of H5N1 bird flu. Here’s why experts are worried. - With the approach of fall and cooler weather across the United States, officials say the risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus could rise — and they’re taking steps to prevent the creation of a hybrid flu virus that could more easily infect humans.

KFF Health News - Bird Flu Cases Are Going Undetected, New Study Suggests. It's a Problem for All of Us.

MEDRXIV -A One Health Investigation into H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus Epizootics on Two Dairy Farms

Vox.com - Over 100 Million Chickens Are Dead, The Bird Flu Doom Loop: Is Bird Flu Here To Stay? - For more than two years, the US poultry industry has been battling a highly virulent strain of avian influenza, or bird flu. The virus has driven up egg and turkey prices and crossed over from infecting just birds to numerous mammalian species, including sea lions, mice, cats, dairy cows, and, increasingly, humans.

And it shows no signs of stopping — only reaching new milestones.

Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy - Study suggests earlier US-licensed H5N1 vaccines prompt antibodies to current strain