Jul 30 U.S. will buy regular flu shots for farmworkers to prevent bird flu from getting more dangerous By Mike Stobbe, Associated Press Health officials are worried about what might happen if people are infected with bird flu and seasonal flu at the same time. It's possible the viruses could swap gene segments, in a process that scientists call reassortment. Continue reading
Jul 03 Colorado dairy worker infected with bird flu in 4th human case linked to U.S. outbreak By JoNel Aleccia, Associated Press The worker had direct contact with infected dairy cows on a northeast Colorado farm, state and federal health officials said. The man developed pink eye, or conjunctivitis, received antiviral treatment and has recovered. Continue reading
Jul 02 U.S. government will pay Moderna $176 million to develop an mRNA bird flu pandemic vaccine By Associated Press The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday it is funding the development of a vaccine based on the same mRNA technology that allowed the rapid development and rollout of vaccines to protect against COVID-19. Continue reading
Jun 14 Why is bird flu highly lethal to some animals, but not others? Scientists are trying to find out By Mike Stobbe, Associated Press In the last two years, bird flu has killed millions of wild and domestic birds and mammals worldwide, but it seems to have hardly touched people. And, as it spreads among U.S. dairy cows, it seems to be causing relatively… Continue reading
Jun 11 Watch 5:52 Bird flu outbreak at dairy farms continue to raise concerns about virus spreading By William Brangham, Jackson Hudgins The H5N1 virus, also known as bird flu, is spreading among dairy cows. It's been found in over 85 herds across 12 states and at least three farm workers have been sickened. While public health officials say the risk to… Continue watching
May 30 Michigan reports another person working with cows got bird flu, the third U.S. case this year By Mike Stobbe, JoNel Aleccia, Associated Press This person developed respiratory symptoms, unlike the two workers, who had only mild eye symptoms. But Michigan health officials say the farmworker was quickly provided antivirals and is recovering. Continue reading
May 15 Watch 7:47 Why scientists are concerned about the latest transmission of bird flu to cows By William Brangham, Sam Weber The outbreak of bird flu in the U.S. has alarmed researchers and prompted new efforts to track the virus that’s already killed millions of birds from Europe to Antarctica. As H5N1 continues to jump into mammals, many scientists are concerned… Continue watching
May 15 How bird flu puts workers on farms and in food processing plants at higher risk By Laura Santhanam Workers on the front lines may be handling animals and food products before they have been treated for possible bird flu contamination. Continue reading
May 14 Raw milk sales spike despite CDC’s warnings of risk associated with bird flu By JoNel Aleccia, Associated Press From 1998 to 2018, the CDC documented more than 200 illness outbreaks traced to raw milk, which sickened more than 2,600 people and hospitalized more than 225. Continue reading
May 11 Watch 6:43 What to know about new COVID variants and the spread of bird flu and measles By John Yang, Andrew Corkery, Kaisha Young Hospitalizations for COVID are at an all-time low four years after the start of the pandemic, but new variants are in circulation. Meanwhile, bird flu has been found in 36 dairy herds across nine states, though there has been only… Continue watching