The Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) strain H5N1 has spread across 12 states in the United States, with outbreaks reported in dairy cattle and 48 poultry farms.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as many as 1,156 outbreaks have been reported since the virus was first detected in January 2022.
The virus has now been detected in wild aquatic birds, commercial and backyard poultry, and cattle. From May 2024 to the end of June, the infection in cattle herds has increased from 80 to 132.
As many as 9,523 wild birds have been found to be impacted by the virus. So far, four human cases have been reported in the US, with the first case in 2022. Two cases were reported from Michigan, and the others from Texas and Colorado.
The CDC maintained that the current public health risk remains low as no human-to-human transmission of the disease has been reported so far.
As per the latest report from the CDC, 53 people have been tested for the A(H5N1) virus linked to the dairy cattle outbreak. Since 3 March 2024, it has tested 31,223 specimens submitted to public health laboratories for flu testing. So far, 780 people have been monitored for any exposure, while at least 53 people who showed flu-like symptoms were tested.
In India, the first case of bird flu with strain H9N2 was reported in 2019, and the second was confirmed by WHO in June.
Meanwhile, the central government has asked states such as Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Jharkhand to remain vigilant as they have reported bird flu infections in poultry.
According to news reports, the Kerala district administration has culled at least 100,000 poultry in the past week. It has also advised a 10-day quarantine post-exposure to the infected poultry.
“It almost seems like a pandemic unfolding in slow motion,” Scott Hensley, a professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania, told Reuters. “Right now, the threat is pretty low … but that could change in a heartbeat.”
