The COVID-19 was a transformative event in world history that killed millions and disrupted society as humans across the globe isolated from each other in order to slow the spread while a vaccine was created.
Since then, public health agencies across the world continue to monitor for any sign of future pandemics. In the United States, that work is overseen by the federal Centers for Disease Control and the agency is monitoring the latest strain of avian influenza.
“Since the spring of 2024, sporadic human infections have been reported in the United States. associated with poultry exposures or with dairy cattle exposures associated with the ongoing multi-state outbreaks of HPAI A(H5N1) virus among dairy cattle and poultry,” reads a background section of the CDC’s website.
Most of the human cases are in people who have been exposed to dead animals infected with the virus.
Dr. Patrick Jackson, an infectious disease expert at the University of Virginia Health System, said unless you are in agriculture, there is little risk of being infected.
“What we have seen and continue to see are widespread bird flu in wild birds, more infections occurring in commercial bird flocks and cattle herds, and occasional spillovers into humans that seem limited,” said Dr. Jackson on a health briefing recorded on November 22.
“What we haven’t seen is sustained human to human transmission, which would really be the bright red flag that would get you more worried,” Jackson continued.
Dr. Jackson said that all but one of around 50 cases of bird flu in humans can be traced back to some contact with an animal. Surveillance testing and contact tracing are done to identify for certain whether there is the possibility of human to human transmission. He added that prices for poultry and eggs might be affected because of what happens when bird flu strikes a farm.
“This virus does seem to be quite pathogenic in bird flocks,” Jackson said. “And so when you have, you know, a chicken in your flock infected, the response is to cull the entire flock to kind of prevent transmission of this.”
Dr. Jackson said a recent case of a pig being diagnosed with a strain of bird flu seems to have been a dead end for the virus to continue mutating. He said there is no need for most people to be concerned about bird flu at this time, but those who spend time around chickens or turkeys should at least be aware of the virus.
“So if you’re turkey hunting or, you know, hunting for waterfowl or things like that, there are specific recommendations from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources that you might want to take a look at,” Dr. Jackson said.
The Department of Wildlife Resources notes there is no immediate public health concern regarding avian influenza, but does ask hunters not to process any meat from a bird that may have died from the disease.
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