bird flu

MARSEILLE, FRANCE - 2022/01/16: A hen is seen in a farm. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, France has more than 150 farms infected with avian flu or also known as bird flu, two-thirds of which are in the Landes Department. (Photo by Gerard Bottino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

July 1, 2024 4:02 PM

Scientists wary of bird flu pandemic ‘unfolding in slow motion’

Scientists tracking the spread of bird flu are increasingly concerned that gaps in surveillance may keep them several steps behind a new pandemic, according to Reuters interviews with more than a dozen leading disease experts. Many of them have been monitoring the new subtype of H5N1 avian flu in migratory birds since 2020. But the spread of the virus to 129 dairy herds in 12 U.S. states signals a change that could bring it closer to becoming transmissible between humans. Infections also have b...

June 17, 2024 1:33 PM

Bird flu spreads to seventh Australian poultry farm

Highly pathogenic avian influenza has spread to a seventh poultry farm near Melbourne, the government of Australia's Victoria state said on Monday. Six of the properties have an H7N3 flu strain and a seventh has an H7N9 strain, it said. Neither is the H5N1 type of avian flu that has infected billions of wild and farmed animals globally and raised fears of human transmission. "Restricted and control areas are in place surrounding all infected premises," Victoria's agriculture department said in...

In this photo illustration a World Health Organization logo is display on a smartphone screen and a pencil in Athens, Greece on November 8, 2021. (Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

June 8, 2024 11:46 AM

WHO says bird flu case in Australia followed travel to Kolkata, India

The World Health Organization on Friday said the child with H5N1 bird flu reported by Australia last month had traveled to Kolkata, India, and the family said they did not have any known exposure to infected people or animals while there. The WHO said on Friday that the child, Australia's first case of H5N1 in a person, had traveled to Kolkata from Feb. 12 to Feb. 19 and returned to Australia on March 1. The child was hospitalized on March 2 and remained there for more than two weeks. No close...

Employees are working on epidemic prevention for chickens at a livestock company in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, China, on April 9, 2024. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

June 6, 2024 10:48 AM

Person with bird flu died in Mexico, WHO says

A person with prior health complications who had contracted bird flu died in Mexico in April and the source of exposure to the virus was unknown, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. WHO said the current risk of bird flu virus to the general population is low. The 59-year-old resident of the State of Mexico had been hospitalized in Mexico City and died on April 24 after developing a fever, shortness of breath, diarrhea, nausea and general discomfort, WHO said. "Although the source...

April 5, 2024 2:23 PM

Experts warn lethal bird flu pandemic could be ‘100 times worse’ than COVID-19

Experts have issued a warning about a potential bird flu pandemic that could be “100 times worse than COVID,” after the detection of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in a person from Texas who had contact with infected dairy cows. The spread of bird flu is a serious concern for governments and the poultry industry due to the risk of human transmission and potential devastation it could cause to flocks. Though the number of bird flu outbreaks have been fewer this season, it has spread fas...