Keyword: birdflu
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A virology team has confirmed the first bird flu infections in elephant and fur seals in the sub-Antarctic region, as the highly contagious H5N1 virus continues to spread around the world. Researchers previously reported the mass deaths of seals and that a number of elephant seals on South Georgia island – a UK overseas territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean – had been exhibiting symptoms of avian flu. But while seabird cases were confirmed, the seal infections were classed as suspected, pending lab results. The first known cases of H5N1 were detected in the Antarctic region in October among brown...
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A bird flu outbreak is ravaging California’s massive poultry industry, forcing businesses to kill more than one million chickens and causing egg prices to soar. Mike Weber, who owns Sunrise Farms in Sonoma County, learned last month that his chickens had become infected with the highly-contagious virus. Per government rules, he had to slaughter his entire flock of 550,000 egg-laying hens. “It’s a trauma. We’re all going through grief as a result of it,” Weber told the Associated Press inside an empty hen house. “Petaluma is known as the Egg Basket of the World. It’s devastating to see that egg...
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Russia's egg shortage is being exacerbated by bird flu-riddled imports from Turkey, one of the country's biggest trading partners and a NATO member, according to a recent report citing a Russian government official. More than one-fifth of the eggs imported from Turkey were found to be infected with the highly contagious H5N1 avian influenza, as well as other dangerous ailments including salmonella and botulism, Russian authorities warned. -snip- Russia's attempt to pivot to Turkey for emergency egg supplies in January now appears to have backfired, as the delivery of the first batch of Turkish eggs was promptly followed by reports...
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Former CDC Director Robert Redfield's biggest fear for a future pandemic is a genetically manipulated bird flu, given that NIH-funded scientists in 2012 published instructions for making such a pathogen cross the "species barrier" to humans, a highly unlikely result from viral evolution. "I didn't think we needed to give terrorists a recipe" for modifying a bird flu to kill 5%-50% of people it infects, Dr. Redfield told "Just the News, No Noise," recalling his argument to then-National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci — his future antagonist on COVID origins and gain-of-function research — against publishing...
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Bird flu is affecting more than just birds in Colorado. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) officials said four dead skunks in Larimer County recently tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza, according to the Coloradoan. The strain has killed countless chickens, waterfowl and raptors in what officials are calling one of the deadliest outbreaks in years. The bird flu was first detected in wild geese in March of last year.
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A bird flu strain that claimed the life of a schoolgirl in Cambodia has evolved to better infect human cells, in a worrying sign. Scientists on the ground who made the discovery said the finding 'needs to be treated with the utmost concern'. They added that there were 'some indications' the virus had already 'gone through' a human and picked up the new mutations before infecting the girl. The 11-year-old girl, from Prey Veng province, last week became the first victim of H5N1 in 2023. Her father has also tested positive for the virus but has not developed symptoms.
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The World Health Organisation (“WHO”), helped by the usual suspects, is building the narrative for another flu pandemic. This time it’s not a novel coronavirus but a novel bird flu virus. Because of a recent spillover of bird flu to mammals, WHO has warned that while the risk to humans currently remains low, it cannot be assumed that this will remain the case. So, WHO is working with manufacturers to ensure supplies of vaccines are available.It is claimed that in October 2022, the avian flu virus (H5N1) was detected in a mink farm outbreak in Spain’s Galicia region:A more detailed...
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Experts have warned that the recent detection of bird flu in mammals including foxes, otters, minks, seals and even grizzly bears is concerning but emphasised that the virus would have to significantly mutate to spread between humans. Since late 2021, Europe has been gripped by its worst-ever outbreak of bird flu, with North and South America also experiencing severe outbreaks. This has led to the culling of tens of millions of domestic poultry worldwide, many with the H5N1 strain. The global outbreak is also responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of wild birds.
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Policymakers have long grappled with how to handle experiments that might generate potentially dangerous viruses. Now, officials are considering whether oversight needs to be expanded. Over 150 virologists have signed on to a commentary that says all the evidence to date indicates that the coronavirus pandemic started naturally, and it wasn't the result of some kind of lab accident or malicious attack. They worry that continued speculation about a lab in China is fueling calls for more regulation of experiments with pathogens, and that this will stifle the basic research needed to prepare for future pandemics. The virologists issued their...
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Ahighly contagious strain of bird flu has been detected in three grizzly bears in Montana, the first time the disease has been found in grizzlies. The three bears tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in fall 2022, and were found to be suffering from neurological issues, including disorientation and partial blindness, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) said in a January 17 statement... ...Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows that as of January 11, over 57 million poultry across the U.S. were infected by HPAI, most of which have died or been culled, while nearly...
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Egg prices jumped 49% in the past year, more than any other grocery category, according to the consumer price index. ird flu is the primary culprit, economists said. Millions of egg-laying hens died in 2022 as a result of the deadliest outbreak of avian flu in U.S. history. Perhaps counterintuitively, chicken prices have been declining. Chickens raised for meat consumption aren’t as affected by bird flu, economists said. The surge in egg prices has stood out in a year when Americans saw their bills balloon across the grocery store. Average egg prices jumped 49.1% in November compared with those a...
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Egg prices are hitting records, driven by an avian-influenza outbreak that has killed tens of millions of chickens and turkeys this year across nearly all 50 states. Wholesale prices of Midwest large eggs hit a record $5.36 a dozen in December, according to the research firm Urner Barry. Retail egg prices have increased more than any other supermarket item so far this year, climbing more than 30% from January to early December compared with the same period a year earlier, and outpacing overall food and beverage prices, according to the data firm Information Resources Inc. [Snip] Some suppliers are projecting...
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The American outbreak of avian influenza is officially the worst on record with 50.54 million dead birds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The highly pathogenic virus was found at a commercial turkey farm in South Dakota this week, resulting in tens of thousands of birds being killed to avoid further spread. That pushed the 2022 total depopulation figures above 2015 when 50.5 million birds were killed, USDA data shows.
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Orders to keep all captive birds and poultry indoors are being extended across the whole of England from next week. The mandatory housing measures have been stepped up by the UK's chief veterinary officer, making it a legal requirement to keep the animals inside and to follow stringent biosecurity measures to help protect flocks from disease. The new rules come into force at one minute past midnight on Monday, 7 November - giving owners one week to prepare. She said the measures apply to all bird owners, whether they keep a few birds, or thousands. "This decision has not been...
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Between 11 June and 9 September 2022, 788 HPAI virus detections were reported in 16 EU/EEA countries and the United Kingdom with 56 in poultry, 22 and 710 in captive and wild birds, respectively. The unusual persistence in wild birds continued throughout the summer and occurred in 15 European countries. The virus reached sea bird breeding colonies on the north Atlantic coast, causing massive mortality, particularly in Germany, France, Netherlands, and the UK. Heavily infected wild birds presented an ongoing risk of infection for domestic birds too. From June to September, the number of outbreaks in domestic birds declined compared...
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A porpoise found stranded on a Swedish beach in June died of bird flu, the first time the virus has been detected in a porpoise, Sweden's National Veterinary Institute said Wednesday. "As far as we know this is the first confirmed case in the world of bird flu in a porpoise," veterinarian Elina Thorsson said in a statement. "It is likely that the porpoise somehow came into contact with infected birds," she said. The young male was found stranded, alive, on a beach in western Sweden in late June. Despite efforts from the public to get it to swim out...
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A top US food processing company warned of an upcoming shortage of its turkey products at supermarkets following one of the worst bird flu outbreaks. “Our Jennie-O Turkey Store team is facing an uncertain period ahead,” Hormel Foods Corporation CEO Jim Snee told investors in an earnings call. “Similar to what we experienced in 2015, (avian influenza) is expected to have a meaningful impact on poultry supplies over the coming months.” Snee said the “large supply gaps in the Jennie-O Turkey Store will begin in the third quarter.” He said highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed in “our supply chain”...
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Three red fox kits died from highly pathogenic avian influenza in Michigan, which is the state's first confirmation of the virus in wild mammals. The fox kits, collected between April 1 and April 14, came from three separate dens in Lapeer, Macomb and St. Clair counties.The DNR received a report from a wildlife rehabilitator in southeastern Michigan about the fox kits exhibiting neurologic signs of avian influenza before death, according to the release. The kits were observed circling, tremoring and seizing. Two of the three died within hours of intake, while one appeared to respond to supportive therapy but then...
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Food prices are rising across the U.S., but the latest sticker shock at the supermarket is in the eggs and poultry aisles, as the deadly bird flu wreaks havoc on the country’s egg-laying hen flock. Inflation data tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found a dozen of eggs jumped 23% in April compared with the month before to $2.52. Prices reached levels not seen since early 2016, a period that followed the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak of 2014-15, which led to a 50% increase in egg prices in the second half of 2015. Since January, the outbreak...
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The first human case associated with the H5 bird flu in the U.S. was detected in a Colorado man, just a few days after the same disease was reported in China. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shared information on the case with the public on Thursday, adding the “public health risk assessment remains low.” The CDC adds people who have job-related or recreational exposures to infected birds are at a higher risk of infection and should take appropriate precautions. But remember you should never believe CDC…
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