A patient in Missouri was hospitalized with bird flu despite having no known contact with animals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the positive case of avian influenza A (H5) on Friday. The patient, who had underlying medical conditions, was successfully treated with antiviral medications at the hospital and has since been...
While the distinct “moo” of a cow and its potent odor may be synonymous and even cherished at state fairs across the country, some places are trading out Bessie for faux bovines this year. The decision comes as the avian flu has infected nearly 200 cattle herds for the first time this year, forcing fair...
A growing number of Americans are skeptical of vaccines for COVID and other infectious diseases, according to the most recent national health survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. More than a quarter of respondents (28%) said they believe the COVID vaccines have contributed to thousands of deaths, according to...
At first glance, it looks like an unassuming farm. Cows are scattered across fenced-in fields. A milking barn sits in the distance with a tractor parked alongside. But the people who work there are not farmers, and other buildings look more like what you’d find at a modern university than in a cow pasture. Welcome...
The H5N1 bird flu virus has spread to dairy cows in the United States, raising concerns about its spread to humans. Since 2022, bird flu in the U.S. has infected 168 dairy herds, seven people who were exposed to poultry, four people who were in close contact with infected cattle, more than 100 million chickens...
The spread of bird flu among poultry and dairy farms has heightened some health experts’ concerns that the process of killing and disposing of poultry infected with the virus may pose a risk to humans and livestock. Recent instances of farms dumping carcasses in landfills and using methods to kill chickens that put workers in...
Four poultry workers in Colorado have been diagnosed with bird flu, health officials confirmed Sunday. The new cases bring the U.S. total to nine since the first human case of the current outbreak was detected in 2022, also in a Colorado poultry worker. Eight of the nine were reported this year. Their illnesses were relatively...
Several people have tested positive for bird flu in the U.S., raising questions about the availability of tests in the event of a potential outbreak. As of July 11, the H5N1 virus has affected more than 99 million poultry (in all 50 states), more than 9,500 wild birds (in 48 states) and more than 145...
Avian influenza, or bird flu, has public health officials on alert after an unprecedented spread in dairy cows in the United States this year. Four dairy workers have also tested positive in the country. A particularly severe variant of the H5N1 strain has been spreading around the world in animals since 2020, causing lethal outbreaks...
The bird flu strain found in cows in the United States is not easily transmitted through the air among ferrets, a new study shows, although the scientist who led the work said it had shown some ability to spread this way. Ferrets are considered to be the best small mammal for studying influenza virus infection...
