The H5N1 bird flu has spread across US livestock, infecting 100 million birds and now reaching both cows and humans, with virologists warning of a potentially massive outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed three additional human cases in the ongoing H5N1 bird flu outbreak in the United States. This surge in animal-to-human transmission has affected poultry and dairy farms significantly in recent months. Since April, 10 farm workers have contracted the highly contagious virus, which has now spread to cows as well as humans.
A new outbreak in Colorado has brought the total number of human H5N1 bird flu cases this year to 13, centered around two farms with a combined total of three million birds involved in bird-to-human transmissions. While the CDC acknowledged this situation as “concerning,” they noted that “all three people have mild illness” and have been given an antiviral drug. They reassured the public that the risk to the general population “remains low.”
In response, US authorities are ramping up testing, particularly in dairy herds after the virus was found in over 170 herds. Virologist Angela Rasmussen, a researcher with the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, told CBC, “We are looking at, potentially, a huge outbreak that is still expanding, and still growing, and that is not containable.”
Rasmussen warned that, similar to the early days of COVID-19, even a few H5N1 cases could quickly escalate into millions of infections. She explained, “That increases the risk of more and more human cases, which in turn increases the risk that this virus will become better adapted to humans.”
Fortunately, none of the human H5N1 infections have shown the ability to transfer between people. However, Rasmussen cautioned that ongoing infections increase the risk of this happening.
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