The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that a patient has been hospitalized with a severe case of H5N1 infection in Louisiana, marking the first known instance of a severe human illness linked to the bird flu virus in the United States.
U.S. confirms first severe human case of bird flu
U.S. government not stockpiling bird flu vaccine
While the United States government continues to monitor the spread of bird flu in the country, the Biden administration said it won’t order the stockpiling of a vaccine for humans. U.S. health officials stressed the chances of a human contracting the H5N1 variant of avian influenza remain very low.
US issues order mandating bird flu testing of milk supply
Virus has infected nearly half of California's 1,100 dairy farms
The U.S. issued a federal order on Friday mandating that the national milk supply be tested for bird flu, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Reuters, as authorities seek to grapple with rapid spread of the virus among dairy herds.
WHO calls for stronger surveillance of H5N1 bird flu among animals
A World Health Organization official on Thursday called for stronger surveillance in animals for evidence of infection with H5N1 bird flu in order to curb its spread.
Federal government pledges funds to bird flu research
The federal government has pledged $5.2 million in for 35 projects researching bird flu.
Virus in B.C. human bird flu case genetically related to farm strain
Health officials have confirmed that the strain of bird flu that hospitalized a B.C. teenager in critical condition is related to the same virus causing outbreaks in the province’s poultry.
Teen in critical condition with Canada’s first presumptive human case of bird flu
A teenager is in critical condition in a British Columbia children's hospital, sick with Canada's first presumptive human case of avian influenza.
US expands bird flu testing after finding symptom-free infections in people
Farm workers who have been exposed to animals with bird flu should be tested for the virus even if they do not have symptoms, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.
UK confirms bird flu cases at commercial poultry farm
The UK government said on Tuesday that cases of bird flu had been confirmed in commercial poultry at premises in Yorkshire, hours after it increased the risk level of the disease from medium to high.
Bird flu detected in pigs – here’s why virologists are concerned
H5N1 influenza has now been detected in pigs. This was something virologists had been worrying about ever since this highly pathogenic strain of bird flu started its rapid global spread in 2020. But why were we worrying specifically about pigs? And does this case – detected on a farm in Oregon on October 29 – change anything?
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
