Bird flu kills millions of animals and has now reached humans

In recent years, bird flu has not only killed millions of birds around the world, but also infected several species of marine and land mammals, including tigers, seals and dolphins. Now, it is starting to expand to humans.

On April 2, 2024, a man was infected in Texas (United States), after coming into direct contact with a cow, which was contaminated with the H1N5 virus, reported The New York Times.

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the man had only one symptom: inflamed eyes, like conjunctivitis. The patient was treated with an antiviral for the flu and is recovering.

Although experts indicate that the risk to the population remains low, contamination between animals is worrying.

Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the CDC, explained to NPR: "So we have never seen a case of human-to-human spread of avian flu here in the United States. And the version of avian flu that we're seeing in cattle, and in this one human case, is the same strain [H5N1] that we have seen previously in birds. We've never seen that spread human to human. That all being said, [what] we've learned through COVID in our experience is: viruses change, and we need to stay ahead of it."

Although the new scenario requires greater precaution, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlighted that no cases of human-to-human contamination have been recorded.

Since 2020, when the H1N5 strain emerged in Europe, the flu has spread and affected more than 82 million poultry in the United States alone. It is the worst bird flu crisis in the country's history, according to The New York Times.

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In South America, avian disease killed tens of thousands of marine mammals, according to the Scientific Committee for the Investigation of Antarctica, reported the Brazilian media outlet UOL.

The problem is so serious that seabird communities are currently facing broad and significant reductions in the number of animals, as indicated by a recent analysis, according to the UOL website.

An international team of researchers, including Spanish virologist Antonio Alcamí, from the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Center (CSIC-UAM), traveled the Antarctic peninsula and found, on Beak Island, 50 dead birds, of the skua species, and  80 alive. Of these, 10 were analyzed and tested positive for bird flu.

Antonio Alcamí told the Spanish newspaper El Diario that the situation is worrying: "Compared to previous cases, so many wild animal mortalities have never been observed."

"We don't really know how susceptible the penguin species will be, but it could lead to a mortality of 30%. So, in a colony of 100,000 animals, we will find 30,000 carcasses," added the virologist, to El Diario.

In Europe, the number of poultry slaughtered as a precaution against avian influenza virus is staggering. The Czech Republic recorded 140 thousand casualties in 2024 alone.

The French government began a campaign to vaccinate ducks against bird flu in October 2023. According to the Spanish newspaper Publico, the country is the first major exporter to vaccinate birds, in response to concerns about possible embargoes by nations fearful of possible spread of the virus.

Although the virus is often fatal in poultry, it appears to cause relatively mild illness in cattle.

According to experts, commercially processed milk remains safe for consumption. Furthermore, pasteurization is a process in which milk is heated to eliminate possible pathogens.

In addition to killing thousands of birds each year, the spread of bird flu to a growing variety of species and the expansion of its geographic range increase the risks of infection for humans, warned Monique Eloit, director of the World Organization for Animal Health, cited by Forbes.

Authorities and experts recommend not coming into direct contact with wild birds and preventing pets, such as dogs and cats, from hunting or eating such birds, because if the bird is infected with the virus, contamination could occur.

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