Category: Avian Influenza
(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
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. […]
Jan 23, 2023
Niger reports severe bird flu among poultry
(Zawaya) Niger has reported the highly contagious H5N1 strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, among poultry in a village in the south of the country, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Tuesday. The outbreak in the south of the Tahoua region killed most of a 4,920-strong flock, with the remaining […]
Dec 27, 2022
China COVID wave could kill one million people, models predict
(Nature) Up to one million people in China could die from COVID-19 over the next few months, according to some of the first projections since the government lifted many of its strict ‘zero-COVID-19’ measures. However, two studies find that the number of deaths could be reduced by giving most of the population a fourth vaccine […]
Dec 20, 2022
The World Is Addicted to Chicken. So Is the Bird Flu Virus
(Bloomberg) The bird flu outbreak ravaging global poultry flocks is now the worst since records began, driving a spike in the price of eggs, threatening free-range chicken and risking long-term impacts to animal health. The avian flu season traditionally begins each October as migratory birds shed infected droppings or saliva while leaving cool areas of the Northern Hemisphere. But this year cases spread […]
Dec 19, 2022
RSV Cases May Have Peaked in the US But the Flu Is Surging
(Bloomberg) The flu is sending more children to the hospital in the US right now than it has in over a decade, just as an autumn spike in severe RSV cases is starting to recede. Severe cases of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, have overloaded children’s hospitals the past few months. In early November, when cases […]
Nov 29, 2022
Avian flu outbreak wipes out 50.54 mln U.S. birds, a record
(Reuters) Avian flu has wiped out 50.54 million birds in the United States this year, making it the country’s deadliest outbreak in history, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed on Thursday. The deaths of chickens, turkeys and other birds represent the worst U.S. animal-health disaster to date, topping the previous record of 50.5 million birds that died […]
Nov 29, 2022
Bird flu infects Iowa egg farm with 1 million chickens
(ABC News) Iowa agriculture officials say another commercial egg farm has been infected with bird flu, the first commercial farm case identified since April when a turkey farm was infected. Iowa agriculture officials said Monday that another commercial egg farm in the state has been infected with bird flu, the first commercial farm case identified […]
Nov 1, 2022
Emmanuel, a TikTok-famous emu, has avian flu after a deadly outbreak on a Florida farm
NPR – Emmanuel, a widely beloved emu who went viral on TikTok, is in dire condition battling the avian flu. Taylor Blake’s family farm in South Florida, Knuckle Bump Farms, has lost more than 50 birds in just three days, Blake wrote on Twitter Saturday. Only two birds survived. “I am still trying to wrap […]
Oct 18, 2022
Wild Birds in North America Are Dying Like Never Before
The Atlantic – Scientists are concerned for North American wildlife as the worst avian flu outbreak since 2015 rages on. The July 5 trip was routine: From the deck of an airboat, two wildlife biologists scanned the cattail marsh—one of many seasonal wetlands in the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge—on their weekly lookout for sick or […]
Oct 3, 2022