Bird Flu: Are You at Risk?

BE 'ON ALERT'—FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR PETS— AN EXPERT SAYS

- EILEEN FINAN

Bird flu isn’t new—reports of the virus stretch back to the 19th century, when it was known as “fowl plague”—but experts say there’s something unusual, and concerning, about the type of H5N1 virus first detected in the U.S. in 2022. “It keeps breaking rules and throwing in plot twists,” says Meghan Davis, associate professor and molecular epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. “It’s been getting into mammals more, and it’s had staying power.” So far the virus has sickened more than 970 dairy herds and killed one person in the U.S. Davis answers People’s questions about the disease.

How does H5N1 spread?