H5N1 Bird Flu: Current Situation (2024)

FAQs

H5N1 Bird Flu: Current Situation? ›

There have been no reports of H5N1 bird flu among residents and no detections in dairy cows in New Jersey.

H5N1 bird flu is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows with three recent human cases in U.S. dairy workers. While the current public health risk is low, CDC is watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with animal exposures.

June 21, 2024 – CDC continues to respond to the public health challenge posed by a multistate outbreak of avian influenza A(H5N1) virus, or "H5N1 bird flu," in dairy cows and other animals in the United States.

Bird flu in dairy cattle has also been reported in Minnesota, South Dakota, Michigan, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado and Texas.

Treatment with the antiviral medicine oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza) may make the disease less severe. For the medicine to work, you need to start taking it within 48 hours after your symptoms start. Oseltamivir may also be prescribed for people who live in the same house as people with avian flu.

So far, the risk of humans getting infected is “low,” the CDC states in summaries about H5N1.

165ºF (with no “pink” parts) – this temperature will kill the H5N1 virus as well as other illnesses.

“In the long term, in the coming years or decades, however, I'm much more concerned.” He gives two reasons: One is that there has been a mortality (or death) rate of about 50% in the almost 900 people around the world who have been infected with bird flu between 2003 and 2024.

Cooking eggs to 160°F (71°C) will kill the avian flu virus.

Discussion. Collectively, our studies show that the A/mink (H5N1) virus transmitted efficiently by direct contact, with 75% of contact animals infected, and inefficiently via the airborne route with 37.5% of respiratory contact animals developing an infection.

Which country has the most bird flu? ›

Egypt has been the most affected country in the EMR where the disease has remained endemic, with frequent epizootic and 167 human cases that include 60 deaths. Symptoms of infection in humans include cough, muscle aches, runny nose and sore throat.

Bird flu is mostly a threat to birds and doesn't spread easily among people, but there was a major outbreak of bird flu in people in 2014.

In 2020, a new version of a bird flu virus, known as H5N1, emerged. It has spread rapidly around the world, infecting many wild birds and repeatedly spilling over into mammals, including cats.

First case of A(H1N2)v virus in the US in 2024

Variant influenza A virus infections are novel influenza A virus infections. A novel influenza A virus is an influenza A virus that is different from seasonal influenza A viruses spreading among people.

In late March 2024, United States officials reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus called HPAI H5N1 among dairy cows in Texas. To date, 95 cattle herds across 12 states have been affected, with three human infections detected in farm workers with conjunctivitis.

Additionally, in March 2024, an outbreak of low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) A(H5N2) was identified in poultry in Texcoco, State of Mexico, and a second outbreak of LPAI A(H5N2) in April in the municipality of Temascalapa in the same state.

The mortality (death) rate for bird flu in humans is high — over 50% for all known cases worldwide. This means half of all people diagnosed with bird flu die from it.

From 1 January 2003 to 3 May 2024, a total of 254 cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus have been reported from four countries within the Western Pacific Region (Table 1). Of these cases, 141 were fatal, resulting in a case fatality rate (CFR) of 56%.

The virus's jump to some 26 mammalian species, especially cattle and the now emerging proof that it can infect humans, has heightened the threat perception that H5N1 could lead to the next global pandemic.