Independent Scientists are warning about the continued transmission of dangerous H5N1 bird flu, saying that the virus is more widespread than believed.
“We are in a soup of virus. I mean, there’s virus everywhere around us at this point,” Dr. Marcela Uhart, a wildlife veterinarian with the University of Cal-Davis’ One Health Institute, told a symposium earlier this month. “This virus is circulating left and right in mammals and in birds, as far as we can tell, some of them are not showing any signs of disease.”
Human infections have been reported across seven US states, and the total number has steadily risen over the last couple of months. Now, there are 55 confirmed cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of those cases are in California, Colorado and Washington.