68 people sick, 1 human & multiple cats dead to date. The current outbreak began in March 2024 with the detection of H5N1 bird flu in dairy cows and poultry. Although virus fragments are also detected in milk, recent studies confirm pasteurization inactivates the virus. As for poultry eggs, the risk remains low. However, unpasteurized milk and raw pet food carry risks for both humans and pets.
Who's At Risk?
HPAI is a disease that is highly contagious and often deadly in poultry. Although bird flu viruses do not normally infect humans, sporadic infections in humans and pets have occurred recently.
Symptoms
Most human cases of bird flu have been mild so far, and most of the cases had direct exposure to sick or infected animals. Symptoms may include eye redness, fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue, seizures, pneumonia, respiratory failure, kidney failure & brain inflammation.
