NEW YORK (PIX11) – Reports of a Bird flu pandemic have been circulating online after a viewpoint was published in a scientific journal Wednesday.
Bird Flu has been detected in all 50 U.S. States and Puerto Rico, but officials are stressing that the current health risk to the public is low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“H5 bird flu is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows with several recent human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers,” read an entry on the CDC’s website. “While the current public health risk is low, CDC is watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with animal exposures.
Although the risk to the public may be considered low, avian flu continues to devastate poultry and dairy farms.
Bird flu in the U.S.
A recent outbreak was detected on Wednesday, affecting a commercial farm in South Dakota and a flock of 700,000 birds.
Over 100 species of North American wild birds – including ducks, geese, gulls, owls, eagles, and others – have been infected with bird flu.
At the beginning of the year, a farm in Long Island had to euthanize over 100,000 birds. Live poultry markets were ordered to close in New York City, Westchester, and Long Island in February.
Bird flu outbreaks were also cited as the primary cause of egg price spikes in January and February after more than 30 million egg-laying chickens were killed to prevent the spread of the disease.
Although bird flu does not usually affect people, according to the CDC, a number of cases have been reported in humans.
Signs and symptoms in humans include
- eye redness
- mild flu-like upper respiratory symptoms
- Fever
- cough
- sore throat
- runny or stuffy nose
- muscle or body aches
- headaches
- fatigue
- shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
For more information on the Bird flu, please click here.
English (US) ·