Are we at the edge of another pandemic? H5N1

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California child tests positive for bird flu with no known exposure to infected animals

The number of human cases of H5N1 in the U.S. continues to rise. It is now up to 52.

Bird flu surges in several US states with reports of new outbreaks: 'Getting worse'

Human cases in the U.S.:

Among the 52 Americans who have been infected with bird flu, Glanville noted that almost all of them were farm workers who had contact with cows or birds.

Bird and Animal cases in the U.S.:

These outbreaks have affected more than one-fourth of California’s farms, per reports, boosting the national total in dairy herds to 549 in 15 states.

Human Avian Flu Update: Possible Case With Undetermined Source of Infection

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced today that a child from Alameda County has tested positive for a suspected H5N1 avian flu infection. The child, who displayed mild upper respiratory symptoms, has no known contact with infected animals. If confirmed, this would be the second case in North America involving a child with an undetermined source of infection. It would also be the second such case in the US this year, involving someone with no exposure to sick farm animals. This would also mark the 27th H5N1 case in California this year, and the first not linked to sick animals on dairy or poultry farms.

The Alameda County (in California) child is recovering at home, and health officials are investigating the potential source of the infection. While the child had no known contact with infected animals, the investigation is focusing on possible exposure to wild birds, particularly as the H5N1 virus spreads along migratory bird routes. Alameda County does not have commercial dairy herds, and the child had attended daycare while symptomatic.

Oregon has confirmed its first human case of H5N1 in a person linked to a poultry outbreak in Clackamas County.

The outbreak is showing up in a larger region of Canada.

Hospitals testing for H5N1 avian flu as virus season ramps up

That enhanced surveillance, which began earlier this year, has taken on a new urgency with the confirmation of Canada’s first domestically acquired case of avian influenza, in a British Columbia teenager. The teen, who was in intensive care with acute respiratory distress, had no known contact with infected livestock, including any of the B.C. poultry farms where birds have been infected. A family dog that had been ill tested negative for avian flu, officials reported.

But there is evidence that the virus may be more widespread.

The most recent avian flu outbreaks in poultry in Canada have largely been in the western provinces, mainly British Columbia. But earlier this month, highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed in commercial poultry in the area around Saint-Hyacinthe, just east of Montreal, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. A second possible outbreak is being investigated in Quebec.

The spread of H5N1 in Canada showed a Central Canadian flow this year in the Spring and a Western Canadian flow during Fall. The same pattern was observed in the U.S.

H5N1 is having a devastating effect in California.

Egg prices nearly double in California as bird flu spreads

Avian flu has killed millions of chickens, sickened thousands of dairy cows in California along migratory routes; USDA begins work on a vaccine for cows, poultry industry calls for vaccine as well.

Avian flu is spreading along the path of birds’ southern migration for winter across California. As of Nov. 12, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that a large egg ranch in Kern County has been impacted by bird flu resulting in the destruction of 2.15 million egg layers. This is the first case of HPAI in Kern County during the 2022-24 bird flu outbreak as it spread south heading into winter. Kern County is home to some of the state’s largest egg ranch operations.

The same day USDA also announced that avian flu hit two Fresno County poultry ranches, one a broiler ranch resulting in the killing of 237,700 chickens being prepped for meat and a turkey ranch requiring the destruction of 34,800 toms, or male turkeys. The news follows recent reports about avian flu spreading to Kings County poultry ranches resulting in the loss of over half a million birds and at another Fresno ranch. On Nov. 14, USDA added three more poultry ranches to the list of affected including one in Merced County, a turkey ranch with the loss of 53,200 birds and another one in Fresno County.

The locations of the poultry ranches are not far from the Pacific flyway, a major migratory route in the Western United States. In the case of Kern County, the egg ranch was close to the Kern Wildlife Refuge as well as nearby dairies. This is worrying observers that there appears to be a connection between all three vectors for the rapidly mutating virus.

Northern California poultry operations have been hard hit as well. Nationwide, outbreaks have claimed more than 21 million hens, so far in 2024.

Most recently, outbreaks affecting more than 2.84 million egg layers were reported in October at commercial facilities in Oregon, Washington and Utah, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Many poultry ranches across the United States are affected, even in Hawaii.



State officials are urging vigilance after Hawaii’s first detection of H5N1 in a flock of rescued pet geese and ducks in Wahiawa.

Avian flu outbreak occurs at Wahiawa sanctuary

H5N1 can spread very quickly in birds, animals and humans. H5N1 is on the move in the U.S.

Bird flu is racing through farms, but Northwest states are rarely testing workers

On a recent Monday morning, workers began their week on a large poultry farm in Franklin County, Washington, home to over 800,000 chickens. By the end of the day, avian flu had been discovered among some of those chickens. By the end of the week, four workers came down with the illness, which had infected only a handful of other people in the U.S. And after two more days of testing by the Benton Franklin Health District, another 10 workers at the farm tested positive.

That outbreak, initially detected Oct. 14, represented the first human cases this year of the avian flu in the Pacific Northwest. The first human case in Oregon was confirmed Nov. 15, adding to mounting evidence that the flu is spreading to farmworker populations across the Western U.S. But efforts to test and monitor the disease among workers are spotty and inconsistent and leave the responsibility for getting tested on the laborers themselves, many of whom are undocumented and can’t afford to take time off if they test positive.

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So far, (the mortality rate in the U.S. of) human cases of avian flu have been mild. Dr. Jürgen Richt, a professor and director of the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases at Kansas State University, told InvestigateWest that so far people who have tested positive for avian flu have had mild respiratory symptoms and conjunctivitis, or pink eye.

But that wasn’t always the case. In 2003, when avian flu reemerged after the first outbreak in 1996, Richt said there was transmission of the flu to humans and there was a high fatality rate.

According to Yale Medicine, the mortality rate was 50% for the 900 people who were infected with the bird flu from 2003 to present.

Several labs have joined forces and developed a test kit for H5N1 (including H5N5 and H5N6). It can provide an assessment within 3 hours. (This in my opinion is important because the H1N1 virus can result in death to humans in as little as 24 hours after showing symptoms. H1N1 is a close cousin for H5N1.) This tool appears to be focused on identifying this infection in birds and animals at the moment but in my humble opinion can be expanded to humans should the need arise. Notice the storage requirement for this product (-15 degrees C to -25 degrees C).

Global research team develops H5N1 detection kit to tackle avian flu

The Diagnostics Development Hub (DxD Hub), a national platform hosted by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, in collaboration with the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan, and the A*STAR Bioinformatics Institute (A*STAR BII), has successfully developed Steadfast, an advanced diagnostic kit for detecting the highly pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus (AIV).

Steadfast not only offers rapid detection of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus (AIV) but also distinguishes between highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) strains, both of which are critical for effective control measures.

(Note: if the transmission agent for H5N1 is insects primarily mosquitoes for humans, then I suspect this tool may be ineffective for halting the spread of H5N1 in birds and animals. But it might be very valuable in the swift detection and treatment for humans.)

This is an update of H5N1 outbreak in birds in Washington State on 11 Nov 2024, 2:27 pm. This outbreak affected birds (Caspian terns) and mammals (Harbor seals).

Bird flu decimated tern colony in northwest Washington

More than half a colony of Caspian terns on a small island near Port Townsend died last year amid an outbreak of bird flu, underscoring the harsh effects the disease can have on wildlife.

Researchers say they directly counted 1,101 dead adult terns and 520 dead chicks and that at least 53-56% of the adult birds in a colony on Rat Island, in northern Puget Sound, were wiped out. After factoring in Caspian tern deaths in other parts of the region, the researchers estimated about 10-14% of the birds in the Pacific flyway were lost last year to bird flu.

Caspian terns are migratory and return to the Northwest in late April or May after wintering elsewhere, mostly in southern California and Mexico. They can live for 20 years or more. The journal article cites estimates indicating that, in 2021, about 10,800 Caspian terns were living in the Pacific flyway — a major migratory bird corridor between North and South America.

The researchers also studied harbor seals that died from the virus on or around Rat Island during the same timeframe and found that the disease had attacked the animals differently than it did birds, causing severe inflammation in their brains.

H5N1 Avian Flu, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is exploding in human cases in the U.S. But the disease is a maze. There has been a matrix of similar outbreaks in the past few months. These include H5N3, H5N5, H5N8. It is on the move. Well you can add another twin sister to the list H5N2 was reported in Mexico.

A case of a different strain of bird flu, called H5N2, was reported in Mexico in June.

Danielle Beckman is a neuroscientist at University of California at Davis. According to Beckman, neuroscientists have been researching the neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative effects of bird flu on the brain for over 15 years.

“It took a while for scientists to discover COVID was entering the brain. We know – the literature shows – from cases in the past that these viruses [H5Nx variants] like to hide in the brain,” Beckman said.

The brain is an ideal place for a virus to hide because once it gets into the brain it is difficult to remove, Beckman explained. It is also possible that viruses can enter parts of the brain that current therapies and drugs cannot.

Source: Whatcom County reports its first flock infected with Avian influenza

I dug a little deeper into the H5N2 case.

In April 2024, laboratory results from a hospitalized patient in Mexico City showed the first direct evidence of human infection caused by influenza A virus subtype H5N2 (A/H5N2). The patient died, and the case fatality was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on 23 May 2024.

Source: Case Report: First Lab-Confirmed H5N2 Case in Mexico

The following article provides a very detailed description of the newest H5N1 threat recently found in a human teenager in British Columbia, Canada. He is currently hospitalized in critical condition. This pandemic is becoming very dangerous.

H5N1 is spiking in wastewater in Los Angeles, California.

H5N1 Bird Flu Level Rises in LA Wastewater, Found in Wild Bird, and Raw Milk Products

Los Angeles County announced that H5N1 had been discovered in the wastewater of the county at the A.K. Warren Water Resource Facility.

The levels then rose from there:
October 30, 2024 --- 20.74 Infa
November 4, 2024 --- 87.62
November 6, 2024 --- 109.3
November 8, 2024 --- 81.23
November 11, 2024 --- 172.5
November 17, 2024 --- 28.11
November 20, 2024 --- 52.25

Bird Flu has destroyed million of chickens and is resulting in a severe shortages of eggs, especially those from cage-free hens.

Eggs are getting scarcer and pricier ahead of the holidays

Americans planning to do some holiday baking this year may have to scramble to track down a key ingredient.

Some stores around the U.S. are running short of eggs, especially those operating in states that require eggs from cage-free hens, as cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) flare and the virus spreads from wild birds to commercial flocks. More than 40% of the nation's roughly 300 million egg-laying hens are raised in cage-free facilities, but roughly 60% of "bird flu" cases recently detected involved cage-free farms.

"After two months of no outbreaks, we had them recently in Utah, Oregon, California and Washington, and three of those states are exclusively cage-free," Emily Metz, chief executive and president of the American Egg Board, told CBS MoneyWatch. "Where we are hearing reports of shortages it's at stores like a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe's."

In California, white cage-free eggs were selling for about $5.26 a dozen last week — up nearly 90% from $2.81 during the same time in 2023, according to the USDA.

Cage-free chickens are raised out in the open. This makes them more vulnerable to becoming infected. In my humble opinion, insects infected with H5N1 are transmission agents for the disease. Chickens that produce cage-free eggs live in a very exposed environment. Chickens raised in a sealed environment such as a commercial poultry building can add a special layer of protection if well sealed from the transmission agent (insects).



The outbreaks, which began in January of 2022, have affected nearly 110 million chickens, turkeys and other birds, including wild, commercial and backyard flocks in 49 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The following article provides a short summery of the H5N1 threat as it moved through the world beginning in 1996.

The spread of H5N1 bird flu among animals and the growing possibility of a pandemic

The panzootic—a pandemic in animal species—of the highly pathogenic strain of the H5N1 of avian influenza is cutting a swathe through wild and domestic bird populations internationally, and has now jumped into numerous mammalian species, including humans, several times.

The virus has spread to every continent except Australia, where scientists estimate it may arrive in the southern hemisphere by spring via migratory birds from Antarctica. Scientists have warned that bird flu poses an enormous danger of a human pandemic, which could easily dwarf the devastation wrought by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 903 people have become infected with H5N1 since 2003. Of these, 463 died, a lethality rate of 51 percent. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with a much lower infection fatality rate, has killed over 27 million people. If a bird flu pandemic does develop, it would likely have a catastrophic impact globally.

Most strains of avian influenza found in wild bird populations have a low pathogenicity (LPAI) with no ill effect on the infected animals. There are two highly pathogenic strains (HPAI), H5 and H7 that are extremely lethal. The virus that has reached panzootic levels and is of most concern is H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b. A clade consists of viruses that have a common ancestor.

The article then provides a detailed timeline describing how the virus transmitted across the world. It then ends the article with a socialist rant on President elect Donald Trump and his cabinet. So the medical/scientific discussion is accurate but mixing in politics and failing to provide a cure in my humble opinion seems off-target.

Source: H5N1 outbreak among livestock spreads to 50 states

With the November 25 discovery of the virus at a bird sanctuary in Hawaii, all fifty states now have confirmed cases of H5N1, or highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in livestock populations. According to the CDC (as of November 26) 55 confirmed cases have also been found in people in seven states: California, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, Texas and Washington.