Q: What about my backyard chickens?

People who own their chickens should be vigilant , experts said. Backyard chickens could come into contact with wild birds either directly or through their bodily secretions, putting them at risk for potential infection. Experts recommended keeping backyard chickens inside an enclosure to keep them away from any migratory birds that may be carrying the disease. Chickens that become infected may become unusually quiet, stop producing eggs or produce fewer of them and develop respiratory symptoms and diarrhea before they start dying. People who have backyard chickens should take precautions and avoid touching infected chickens or their eggs, or contaminated surfaces, experts said.

Question 1

What is bird flu?

Accepted Answer

Avian influenza is a disease caused by influenza A viruses that spread widely among wild birds, particularly aquatic birds, birds of prey and waterfowl, but also domestic birds such as poultry. In the United States, highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in more than 9,000 wild birds and has affected more than 100 million commercial poultry and backyard flocks and almost 200 dairy herds since 2022, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Avian influenza viruses can survive for long periods in cold temperatures on surfaces such as farm equipment, allowing them to spread between farms, according to the World Organization for Animal Health.

Question 2

Can humans catch bird flu?

Accepted Answer

It is rare, but humans can become infected with bird flu — generally, if they come into close contact with infected birds, whether the birds are dead or alive, or with surfaces that may have been contaminated by an infected bird’s saliva or feces. Although the virus has been detected in wild mammals such as red foxes, raccoons, opossums and skunks — probably from eating infected wild birds — experts said the virus poses a low risk to humans. At least 14 people in the United States have contracted bird flu this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, including the first person to test positive without any known occupational exposure to sick or infected animals. The latest patient was diagnosed during routine flu testing after being hospitalized in August, the CDC said. The person, who has underlying health conditions that could have made them more susceptible to respiratory illnesses, has since recovered. The CDC has not changed its advice related to the virus and said there is no evidence of transmission to the latest patient’s close contacts or others. Bird flu infections could range from mild cases such as conjunctivitis — an eye infection that could occur after handling contaminated material and then touching the eyes — to more serious but rare respiratory infections, experts said. The virus typically doesn’t infect the human respiratory tract, because humans don’t have the receptors in their throats, noses or upper respiratory tracts that are susceptible to the current bird flu strain. A person would need to breathe in a large amount of the virus — by sweeping up and inhaling infected fecal matter deep into the lungs, for example — to develop a respiratory infection from the virus, said William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases and preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University. “In those circumstances, the virus can initiate an infection in an occasional human and quickly develop into influenza pneumonia,” he said, and then “the fatality rate is very high.”

Question 3

Is it safe to drink milk and eat cheese and yogurt?

Accepted Answer

Federal agencies are reassuring the public about the nation’s dairy supply after the bird flu was recently found in dairy cows and viral fragments were discovered in milk sold at grocery stores. Experts say the mere presence of viral particles is not surprising and does not mean people can get infected by consuming products containing them. Since milk products are pasteurized, “there continues to be no concern about the safety of the interstate commercial milk supply,” the Food and Drug Administration said in a notice on its website. That applies to other dairy products, including cheese, yogurt and ice cream, but officials are doing additional studies to see if there are any differences with other milk products containing viral fragments. Only milk from healthy animals is authorized to be distributed into interstate commerce for humans to consume, the agency said, adding that “pasteurization has continually proven to inactivate bacteria and viruses, like influenza.” That means there hasn’t been much impact on the country’s supply of milk or the cost of dairy products.

Question 4

Can you get bird flu from eating chicken or eggs?

Accepted Answer

No. Humans cannot become infected by eating fully cooked poultry or eggs. However, according to the CDC, “uncooked poultry and poultry products (like blood) could have been the source of a small number of bird flu virus infections in people in Southeast Asia.” The CDC advises that “it is safe to eat properly handled and cooked poultry in the United States.” Still, on commercial farms, infected poultry — and other chickens or turkeys that are exposed to those infected poultry — are typically killed to protect the U.S. food supply, said Carol Cardona, chair of avian health at the University of Minnesota. “It’s good to know that they don’t make it into any food products,” she said. “They don’t even make it into your pet food.”

Question 5

What are the symptoms of bird flu in humans?

Accepted Answer

Some people who are infected may not experience symptoms, according to the CDC. Others may have mild symptoms such as conjunctivitis or flu-like symptoms — fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches, fatigue and, in more serious cases involving pneumonia, trouble breathing. The symptoms of bird flu depend on the strain of the virus with which each person becomes infected. The strains that have caused most of the human infections in the past 25 years are H5N1 and H7N9, the CDC said. In June, the WHO announced the first confirmed human case of another subtype, H5N2, in a 59-year-old male resident of Mexico who died. However, the cause of death is not clear, because the man suffered from other underlying health conditions, a WHO spokesman said in an email. Bird flu infection is diagnosed in a lab, usually by swabbing someone’s nose and throat.

Question 6

How is it treated?

Accepted Answer

People who contract bird flu are typically treated with supportive care and, in serious cases, with ventilators to help them breathe. There are also antiviral medications that are effective at treating the current strains, Schaffner said.

Question 7

Is there a bird flu vaccine for humans?

Accepted Answer

Yes, there are vaccines for the bird flu. But they would need to be tested to determine whether they are a match for this specific strain. Vaccine manufacturing would then need to be scaled up and mass-produced.

Question 8

Can bird flu kill humans?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it can be fatal, mainly when the virus gets into the lungs and causes influenza pneumonia, but that is rare. According to the World Health Organization, between January 2003 and February 2024, 887 laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with H5N1 were reported globally from 23 countries. Of those who were infected, there were 462 deaths. While these numbers might seem scary, experts caution that the risk to the general public is low and that there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission.

Question 9

Could bird flu become the next pandemic?

Accepted Answer

Each time there is highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak, it triggers concerns that the virus could mutate to infect humans more readily and start spreading from person to person. That happened with swine flu in 2009, when pigs became simultaneously infected with avian influenza and human influenza. The two viruses exchanged their genetic material inside the pigs, allowing the bird flu to use the genetic blueprint from the human flu to spread among people. Such a pandemic cannot be predicted because this exchange of genetic material is a random event. “If anything, the odds are against it,” Schaffner said, noting that bird flu strains are circulating all the time and do not pose a risk to humans. Although the strain has infected some mammals — including mink, causing an outbreak at a Spanish farm in October 2022 — “that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to pick up the capacity to spread to humans,” he said.

Question 10

Can dogs and cats catch bird flu?

Accepted Answer

Dogs have contracted avian influenza strains in the past, said Cardona. But because the family dog or cat is not typically in contact with infected birds like wild animals are, their risk is low, she said. Still, experts warned against letting dogs or cats eat dead birds for a variety of health reasons. “If you are keeping your cat indoors and you’re keeping your dog on a leash, I don’t see any reason that you would be expecting to see an infection,” Cardona said.

Question 11

What about my backyard chickens?

Accepted Answer

People who own their chickens should be vigilant, experts said. Backyard chickens could come into contact with wild birds either directly or through their bodily secretions, putting them at risk for potential infection. Experts recommended keeping backyard chickens inside an enclosure to keep them away from any migratory birds that may be carrying the disease. Chickens that become infected may become unusually quiet, stop producing eggs or produce fewer of them and develop respiratory symptoms and diarrhea before they start dying. People who have backyard chickens should take precautions and avoid touching infected chickens or their eggs, or contaminated surfaces, experts said.

Question 12

Does risk vary by state or country?

Accepted Answer

Some locations have been more affected than others, but there is no place that is entirely risk free, said Munir Iqbal, head of the avian influenza virus group at the Pirbright Institute in England. “The virus is very much endemic now in wild birds, and the wild birds are going all around the world, so therefore the threat to the poultry has become constant and unpredictable,” Iqbal said. Highly pathogenic avian influenza was first identified in geese in Guangdong, China, in 1996. It spread widely in Asia between 2003 and 2005, mutating into different strains that have since caused periodic outbreaks around the world.

Question 13

Can birds be vaccinated against bird flu?

Accepted Answer

China, Egypt and some other nations that experienced prior deadly outbreaks of bird flu have focused on vaccinating flocks of birds to decrease bird mortality. But vaccination for bird flu is also costly, and there is no universal agreement on whether it is an effective strategy to manage outbreaks. Britain, where systematic vaccination of domesticated birds is banned in most cases, states in its official guidelines that vaccines are too difficult to administer properly over time, have not been proven to work in all affected bird species and are complicated to develop and adapt because the virus mutates so quickly. In the United States and Europe, authorities monitor bird populations and, when they detect infections, cull flocks, including healthy birds that may have been exposed. This is costly because many governments compensate farmers when their healthy birds are killed.

Question 14

Should you worry birds in your area are spreading avian flu?

Accepted Answer

Wild birds — such as ducks, geese and swans — are most likely to be infected with this strain of bird flu, according to the CDC. It can easily be spread to poultry, like chickens and turkey. However, the most common songbirds or other birds found in backyards — like cardinals, robins and pigeons — don’t usually carry bird flu viruses dangerous to poultry or humans. Generally, people should avoid direct contact with wild birds, the CDC states.

Question 15

What precautions are federal and state health officials recommending?

Accepted Answer

Federal and state health officials are recommending that people avoid unprotected exposures to sick or dead animals including wild birds, poultry, other domesticated birds, and other wild or domesticated animals, including cattle, as well as animal carcasses, raw milk, feces, litter or materials contaminated by birds or other animals with confirmed or suspected HPAI virus infection. An order issued by the U.S. Agriculture Department requires lactating dairy cows to be tested before moving across state lines. Those that test positive would have to wait 30 days and test negative before being moved, officials said. People should not prepare or eat uncooked or undercooked food or food products, including unpasteurized (raw) milk or cheeses, from animals with confirmed or suspected bird flu. CDC is recommending that farmers and owners of poultry, backyard flock and livestock wear personal protective equipment, such as N95 masks, eye protection and gloves, as well as wash their hands thoroughly when in direct contact — or entering any buildings — with sick or dead birds or other animals, carcasses, or feces or litter of potentially infected animals. People exposed to birds or other animals with confirmed or suspected HPAI virus infection should be monitored for symptoms of illness for 10 days after the last known exposure, even if they were wearing recommended personal protective equipment. Fenit Nirappil contributed to this report.

Bird flu explained: How it spreads, milk and egg safety and more