May 30 (Reuters) – The H5N1 bird flu virus has spread to
dairy cows in the United States, raising concerns about its
spread to humans.
Since 2022, bird flu in the US has infected over 90 million
chickens, more than 9,000 wild birds, 67 dairy herds, one person
who was exposed to poultry and three people who were in close
contact with an infected cattle.
The following is a timeline of the current outbreak in the
country:
May 30
A
third
U.S. dairy worker tested positive for bird flu in 2024
after exposure to infected cows, and was the first to suffer
respiratory problems. The infection was the second human case in
the state of Michigan.
May 22
Another human case of bird flu is confirmed in the U.S. with
the infection of a dairy worker in Michigan. It is the second
case in humans this year after the virus was detected in cattle.
April 26
Colorado became the ninth U.S. state to report an infected
dairy herd.
April 25
Colombia restricted the import of beef and beef products
coming from U.S. states due to bird flu in dairy cows.
April 24
The U.S. government said it will require dairy cattle moving
between states to be tested for bird flu.
April 23
The U.S. Food and Drug administration said it had found bird
flu virus particles in some samples of pasteurized milk, but
said the commercial milk supply remains safe due to
pasteurization.
April 11
South Dakota became the eighth U.S. state to find avian
influenza in a dairy herd, after the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) reported infections in North Carolina, Texas,
Kansas, Ohio, Michigan, Idaho and New Mexico.
April 4
Bird flu dairy cow outbreak widened to a dairy herd in Ohio.
April 2
Mexico’s agriculture ministry said it was taking
preventative measures to increase surveillance and reinforce
inspections of U.S. livestock imports after bird flu was found
in dairy cattle there.
April 1
The second known human case of bird flu in the United States
is reported in a person from Texas who had contact with dairy
cows presumed to be infected with the virus.
The virus was detected in dairy cattle in New Mexico,
Michigan and Idaho, along with Texas and Kansas.
March 25
The USDA said samples of milk collected from sick cattle in
Kansas and Texas tested positive for avian flu, but the nation’s
milk supply was safe.
Dec. 12, 2023
Egg producer Cal-Maine Foods said it had
temporarily ceased production at a facility in Kansas after some
of the flock tested positive for avian flu.
Nov. 3, 2023
Arkansas, a major U.S. chicken producer, reported its first
outbreak of lethal avian flu in a commercial poultry flock in a
year.
Oct. 6, 2023
The United States detected its first case of avian flu on a
commercial poultry farm since April, in a flock of 47,300
turkeys in Jerauld County, South Dakota.
April 14, 2023
The U.S. government said it was testing four potential bird
flu vaccines for poultry, after more than 58 million chickens,
turkeys and other birds had died in the nation’s worst outbreak
ever.
March 20, 2023
Some of the world’s leading makers of flu vaccines say they
could make hundreds of millions of bird flu shots for humans
within months if a new strain of avian influenza ever jumps
across the species divide.
Oct. 7, 2022
Avian flu infected a commercial flock of breeding chickens
in Arkansas, widening an outbreak of the disease in the southern
region.
Nationwide, more than 47 million birds have been killed by
avian flu or culled to control its spread this year in the
nation’s worst outbreak since a record 50 million birds were
wiped out in 2015.
April 29, 2022
The first known human case of H5N1 bird flu in the United
States appeared in a person in Colorado, who was involved in
culling birds at a commercial poultry facility.
March 7, 2022
More than 22 million commercially raised U.S. chickens and
turkeys have been killed since February 2022 due to outbreaks of
a highly lethal type of bird flu.
March 4, 2022
A bird flu outbreak is reported in a commercial flock of
chickens being raised for meat in Stoddard County, Missouri,
taking the spread of the virus to 10 commercial chicken and
turkey farms in four states.
Feb. 9 , 2022
The USDA reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian flu
in an Indiana turkey flock, the nation’s first case in a
commercial poultry operation since 2020.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shinjini Ganguli)
Rohit Malhotra is a medical expert and health journalist who offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being. His articles aim to help readers lead healthier lives.
