The H5N1 bird flu virus has been officially confirmed in a sample of raw milk sold at stores in California. No one has reported illness associated with consumption of raw milk to date, but the concern of further spread of this virus as it makes its way through dairy cattle, and now dairy products, is […]
On November 26, 2024, The government of British Columbia in Canada issued an update on the recent H5N1 case and the ongoing epidemiological investigation. This H5N1 case was first reported on November 9, 2024, in a teenager from Fraser Valley, located in Southwest British Columbia. By way of background, an initial press conference was held on November
In Canada, there has been the first reported instance of a locally acquired H5N1 avian flu case in a human: a teenager that is currently hospitalized in critical condition. On Saturday, 11/9/2024, the province of British Columbia in Canada reported that a teenager tested “presumptive positive” for H5 avian flu. The teen is from the Fraser
An outbreak of bird flu in October 2022 spread rapidly through a mink farm in the Galicia region of Spain. This received massive media coverage, as it renewed concerns that the virus could adapt to humans. But this outbreak was part of the much larger, unprecedented, currently ongoing H5N1 panzootic that has caused massive losses in
The CDC recently published a new study relating to the ongoing H5N1 outbreaks in dairy cattle in the U.S., and the exposure to humans, particularly farm workers, who work closely with cattle. So far, the CDC lists 46 official cases of H5N1 in humans. As of Friday, 11/8/2024, and per the USDA, we are now up to
The H5N1 strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, what we typically refer to as bird flu, has infected an unprecedented number of wild birds and mammals around the world. This global pandemic in animals, a “panzootic,” is unprecedented because never before have so many different species been infected with this virus. On another note, I have
Here we are eight months after the first detections of avian flu was made in U.S. dairy cattle. This blindsided the agricultural sector and the scientific community, and it is far from over. There is so much we still don’t know about how and why this strain of bird flu spilled over into dairy cattle,
In early Summer 2023, there were reports of mysterious cat deaths in Poland. People reported pets with severe respiratory disease and neurologic symptoms, with death coming fast. Tests confirmed the cats were infected with avian flu, H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b. Many of the sick cats were indoor cats with no outside exposure. The viruses from the
