Bird Flu Warning: Its Spreading, Mutating, and Infecting Mammals

(Infection Control Today) As many of us remain focused on COVID-19 and its immunosuppressive augmentation of other infectious diseases, mother nature is not sitting still. I was again reminded of this fact when I attempted to purchase a dozen eggs for over $6. The average price in the United States was over $4 in December 2022. In January 2023, the New York Times reported a cost of over $7. This consumer price gouge is not the grocery store’s fault, the COVID-19 bailout, or even our bloated federal deficit. It is the result of mother nature and the H5N1 bird flu pandemic.
 
Along with RSV, SARS-CoV-2, and Seasonal influenza, the bird flu is spreading rapidly in the United States at epidemic proportions. According to the New York Times, 60 million birds have been infected or killed (culled) in 47 states. So far, this has surpassed the second-largest outbreak in 2015, when 50.1 million birds died in 21 states. The number of states affected has more than doubled.
 
Bird flu has rarely affected humans; when it does, it is from directly handling birds. The virus rarely spreads from human to human. The concern is that when it infects humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is an approximately. From 2003 to 2006, H5N1 infected 232 people and killed 134.