Very sad, many wild birds dying of H5N1 in Northern PA - discovered in rats now

[LuvOrlando]

https://www.timesobserver.com/news/local-news/2025/02/migrating-snow-geese-drive-avian-flu-outbreak-in-pa/#:~:text=The results were positive for,or dying along the shoreline.

"Other animals testing positive for the virus include: Canada geese; bald eagles; snowy owl; great-horned owl; American crow; red-tailed, red-shouldered, and Cooper’s hawk; red fox; and turkey vulture."

Must be a very sad thing to see. The fox are very worrisome, they are everywhere now and wander throughout people's yards, crows too get very close to pets and all.


https://lancasteronline.com/news/lo...cle_b2dcf518-ea27-11ef-81d7-5f0b21acedd0.html

This is terrible

 

[georgina]

https://www.timesobserver.com/news/local-news/2025/02/migrating-snow-geese-drive-avian-flu-outbreak-in-pa/#:~:text=The results were positive for,or dying along the shoreline.

"Other animals testing positive for the virus include: Canada geese; bald eagles; snowy owl; great-horned owl; American crow; red-tailed, red-shouldered, and Cooper’s hawk; red fox; and turkey vulture."

Must be a very sad thing to see. The fox are very worrisome, they are everywhere now and wander throughout people's yards, crows too get very close to pets and all.


https://lancasteronline.com/news/lo...cle_b2dcf518-ea27-11ef-81d7-5f0b21acedd0.html

This is terrible

Yes it is terrible. Cats are also very susceptible. It has spread to humans in a dozen states. There is at least one company working on a vaccine.

 

[DaBarretts]

This is so sad!

 

[LuvOrlando]

@georgina I had no idea it could infect cats. A simple search found that there was a recall with raw pet food, awful.

https://www.avma.org/news/cat-death...inated-raw-pet-food-sparking-voluntary-recall

Also some pets reportedly died from unpasteurized milk aka raw milk

 

[LuvOrlando]

Feeding our new puppy fresh chicken and fresh rice so I looked it up and cooking destroys H5N1, which is also good for humans.

https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/prevention/food-safety.html

 

[dizneegirl]

Did you think it was only on poultry farms? It started with wild birds, and will continue to circulate and spread in the wild.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Very sad

 

[luvthatduke]

Also zoos across America (not sure how many as of now) have Bird Flu,
brought directly to their animals via birds of prey & others that fly into the enclosures.

 

[anniemae]

I wonder when we should start to get concerned about this. Definitely worth watching, but not at a panic state yet. We have had bird flu (as well as swine flu) scares in the past that fizzled out.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

It's definitely something to pay attention to. It's way bigger than wild birds dying in PA. Much bigger. Hundreds of thousands of ducks and chickens are being destroyed because the virus has been detected on those farms. It's jumping animal types to cats and cows - which means we have to be very careful of the potential for a jump to humans. Definitely not panic, but due diligence monitoring what's going on.

 

[cabanafrau]

I wonder when we should start to get concerned about this. Definitely worth watching, but not at a panic state yet. We have had bird flu (as well as swine flu) scares in the past that fizzled out.

I think part of the problem now is the uptick in size of commercial flocks. Notably Canada doesn't have the massive commercial farm flocks we do and they're not really struggling with the flu.

 

[georgina]

It's definitely something to pay attention to. It's way bigger than wild birds dying in PA. Much bigger. Hundreds of thousands of ducks and chickens are being destroyed because the virus has been detected on those farms. It's jumping animal types to cats and cows - which means we have to be very careful of the potential for a jump to humans. Definitely not panic, but due diligence monitoring what's going on.

It has jumped to humans. I think the problem will be when it can go from human to human. Don't think that has happened yet, but it's probably coming...and not all state's dairy herds are being tested

 

[Kitty 34]

So sad.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Michigan cats may have caught H5N1 from dairy workers; Ohio counties declare avian flu emergency​

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-in...ught-h5n1-dairy-workers-ohio-counties-declare

 

[LuvOrlando]

Seems there is a vaccine in existence, that's an improvement

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-in...ccine-buy-usda-confirms-first-h5n1-detections

 

[LuvOrlando]

Found it in rats in California, not great that it is going to move through rodents which huddle enmasse and procreate incredibly quickly nevermind are food of birds of prey which are getting infected not a good change at all

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/l...unty/509-4e8d0fd3-c0c8-4a67-a2ae-2a26f808e26f

 

[anniemae]

I read that bird flu tests as influenza A. People were speculating that positive flu test could be bird flu? Wonder if there is any truth to that.

 

[Disneefun]

Seems there is a vaccine in existence, that's an improvement

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-in...ccine-buy-usda-confirms-first-h5n1-detections

From what I've read, though, it's literally a chicken and egg problem. Since it, like most flu vaccine is made in chicken eggs, if the chicken flocks continue to be decimated, the available eggs for vaccine production are greatly reduced. Which if mass vaccination is needed in short order, could be a problem.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I read that bird flu tests as influenza A. People were speculating that positive flu test could be bird flu? Wonder if there is any truth to that.

I found this so there are a lot of different Flu A versions & B.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses-types.html#:~:text=Influenza A viruses are divided,N1 through N11, respectively).

The fact we can test ourselves now is a major advancement and can help relieve the strain on hospitals a lot, for me I'm thrilled I can screen quickly and not bother a Dr for no reason so they can spend time of the people who are in real danger.

 

[dvcgirl67]

It has jumped to humans. I think the problem will be when it can go from human to human. Don't think that has happened yet, but it's probably coming...and not all state's dairy herds are being tested

Yes, that's where we run into a big problem if/when it goes human to human transmission. I've read that we already have a vaccine for this, but not in the numbers that we would need if it takes off. And I'm not sure if the vaccine we have would need to be modified in any way based on what this strain would look like if it jumps. And then of course, there's the issue we now have in our country with people simply not wanting to get vaccinated....for anything. Sadly, unlike Covid, this would really hit children hard....not just the elderly this time around. Hoping it doesn't make the leap...but not all that confident based on what I'm reading.