H5N1 is the latest evidence that climate change is altering how viruses spread and evolve. It is essential that global public health officials take these dynamics into account.
Influencers extoll the benefits of drinking raw milk over pasteurized milk, but there isn’t substantive evidence to support these claims.
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
Raw milk has always carried the risk of serious illness, and this risk has only risen with bird flu spreading across dairy farms in the US.
The actions we take now will determine whether the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreak already affecting birds and mammals around the world takes hold in humans.
(AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Our approach to combating pandemics must shift to one that prioritizes prevention of human infections with zoonotic viruses, rather than focusing on rapid response once human infection is widespread.
Contact tracing didn’t identify any cases beyond this child. While the risk to the public is very low, the global situation with bird flu is precarious.
Before World War II, pathogens in milk accounted for 1 in 4 cases of foodborne diseases in the US. Pasteurization reduced this figure to less than 1%.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed that dairy cows in nine states have been infected with bird flu in 2024.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
A veterinarian and epidemiologist who studies infectious diseases in dairy cows discusses the outbreak, how cows recover and what the government is doing to keep the milk supply safe.
Strong evidence suggests the risk associated with consuming milk contaminated with H5N1 influenza virus is minimal.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
H5N1 influenza has been reported in dairy cows, and detected in milk. Here’s a look at what’s known about how pasteurization affects the virus and the safety of consuming H5N1-contaminated milk.
Cows typically get over avian flu in a couple of weeks, but it’s an economic blow for farms.
AP Photo/Charlie Litchfield
Bird flu in U.S. dairy cows has Canadian public health experts on high alert. With one human case identified in Texas, what is the likelihood of H5N1 influenza moving from birds to mammals to people?
A deadly strain of bird flu is circulating in animals. So far the virus has been detected in seabirds on islands near Antarctica. What does this mean for wildlife, tourism and research?
Frédéric Keck, Auteurs historiques The Conversation France
Vaccination against bird flu offers farmers hope, rather than being caught between the anguish of finding a sick bird and the desolation of having to slaughter their entire flock.
The first sign of a new bird flu might be a dead seabird or marine mammal. Better surveillance of migratory birds and wildlife – and better public awareness – is crucial.
The World Health Organization has declared an end to COVID-19’s status as a public health emergency of international concern.
(Shutterstock)
After previous public health emergencies likes SARS and H1N1, there was renewed investment in pandemic preparedness, but it was not sustained. We cannot make the same mistake after COVID-19.
Gain-of-function experiments in the lab can help researchers get ahead of viruses naturally gaining the ability to infect people in the wild.
KTSDesign/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
From September onwards, migratory birds will arrive on Australian shores. If one is carrying the lethal bird flu, it could devastate our birdlife
Avian influenza (‘bird flu’) is a highly transmissible and usually mild disease that affects wild birds such as geese, swans, seagulls, shorebirds, and also domestic birds such as chickens and turkeys.
(CDC and NIAID)
Clement Meseko, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Jos
Bird flu has been recurring in Africa since 2006 and Nigeria is heavily affected. High-level biosecurity measures are required to keep people and animals safe.
Bird flu is transmitted mainly by wild birds, like these snow geese in Ruthsberg, Md., in January 2023.
Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Avian influenza viruses have evolved to infect birds, but the current H5N1 outbreak is also infecting a wide range of mammals. This suggests that it could mutate into forms that threaten humans.
Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Emory University and Adjunct Professor Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh