This latest outbreak has been deadly for many millions of birds. The risk to humans, however, is very low.
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.
Ash Porter, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity e Michelle Wille, University of Sydney
While a small proportion of people have become ill while in contact with infected birds, there is no evidence it has spread from human to human.
Wild birds like pelicans and ducks are getting infected with – and dying from – a new strain of avian influenza and have spread it to farm animals around the world.
Klebher Vasquez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A biologist who studies how viruses spread from animals to people explains the process of spillover and the risks posed by the new bird flu that has spread across the globe.
Hunters are warned to take precautions handling wild birds, and the virus can spill over to non-avian species, so no one should approach wild animals that appear ill.
Viral TikTok star Emmanuel – a US-based emu who enjoys a vast online following – has fallen sick with avian influenza. So what is this disease and what’s the risk in Australia?
Seabirds like gannets appear to be particularly at risk.
Coatesy / shutterstock
The strain of H5N1 bird flu identified in Canada, the United States and Europe can cause severe disease and high mortality in domestic poultry.
(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Avian influenza virus — or bird flu — can infect domestic poultry such as chickens and turkeys, as well as wild birds. The H5N1 strain has been identified in Canada.
Bird flu is highly contagious in domestic flocks, and a major outbreak is underway in the US. A veterinary scientist explains what consumers need to know.
A virus’s genes hold a record of where it’s traveled, and when.
imaginima/E+ via Getty Images
Claire Guinat, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich; Etthel Windels, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich e Sarah Nadeau, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
After a nose swab tests positive for a virus or bacteria, scientists can use the sample’s genetic sequence to figure out where and when the pathogen emerged and how fast it’s changing.
Epidemiologists in protective suits collecting a dead bird from the sea beach in the course of the spreading of the bird flu, Germany.
blickwinkel / Alamy Stock Photo
Each year in spring and summer, waterbirds mingle on their breeding grounds in Siberia and mix their flu viruses, creating new variants they then bring to Europe, Asia and Africa.
Moose, a mixed-breed dog from the Nebraska Humane Society, trains in odor-detection work.
Bill Cotton/CSU
Victoria currently has three avian influenza outbreaks across six farms. They are being treated as an emergency. Here’s how authorities are responding.