Stopping the next flu pandemic

"In spring, consumers in the United States found themselves having to hunt for something that had previously been exceedingly easy to find: eggs. Some supermarkets limited customers to a single carton per visit, but still ran out. Shoppers who did manage to find eggs in stock paid dearly - a dozen could sell for more than US$11. For many people, it was the first indication that the country was in the midst of a devastating bird-flu outbreak."

"The H5N1 flu virus responsible for this outbreak hit poultry farms especially hard. The egg shortage and skyrocketing prices were the result of the loss of tens of millions of hens - the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires the destruction of poultry flocks that test positive for H5N1. But US consumers could experience another shock if they buy a turkey for their Thanksgiving meal in late November. This year's flock is the smallest in decades, partly due to bird flu."

"Some poultry farms contracted H5N1 from waterfowl. But others got the virus from a new source of infection. In March 2024, the United States announced that several herds of dairy cattle had been infected. Since H5N1 jumped to cattle, the virus has infected at least 1,000 cows in 18 states, tens of millions of chickens and turkeys, and 70 people, one of whom died."

A spring H5N1 outbreak caused widespread egg shortages and spike in prices after tens of millions of hens were destroyed under USDA rules for infected flocks. The turkey flock for Thanksgiving is the smallest in decades, contributing to forecasts of substantially higher turkey prices. In March 2024 H5N1 jumped into dairy cattle, and since then at least 1,000 cows in 18 states, tens of millions of chickens and turkeys, and 70 people have been infected, with one death. The virus has not yet acquired efficient human-to-human transmission, but experts warn of the potential for that change and heightened risk.

Read at Nature