Bird flu has infected dozens of different mammals around the world and began sweeping across the United States poultry industry in January 2022. Affecting over 136 million birds, the virus has spread to at least 930 dairy herds across 16 states as human cases grow in number.
Bird flu has infected dozens of different mammals around the world and began sweeping across the United States poultry industry in January 2022. Affecting over 136 million birds, the virus has spread to at least 930 dairy herds across 16 states as human cases grow in number.
THE GORGE — Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza, or bird flu, has been ripping through poultry flocks and dairy herds across the United States. First confirmed in wild birds, scientists are sounding alarms of another pandemic as the virus infects more animals, posing the threat of human-to-human transmission.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has detected bird flu in more than 136 million wild, commercial and backyard birds along with 930 dairy herds since national monitoring began in February 2022 and March 2024, respectively. With 67 human cases reported so far, Dr. Marta Fisher, regional epidemiologist for the North Central Public Health District in Wasco County, explained the risk locally.
“We’re sort of in this watchful waiting stance,” said Fisher. “The concern is people that work with cattle, specifically in concentrated populations like big feed lots and people that work with large quantities of poultry.” Other vulnerable people include those with preexisting conditions, children and the elderly.
Spread through respiratory droplets and contact with contaminated animal (by)products, like feces, saliva, raw milk and raw meat, infected farmworkers represent most human cases, except for three with unknown causes. While Oregon has identified just one human case, 11 people in Washington have tested positive in the last year, all related to poultry farms. No human or animal cases have been detected in Hood River, Klickitat or Wasco counties.
Luckily, there aren’t many concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in the Gorge, where bird flu is most prevalent, either. Out of 485 permitted CAFOs in Oregon, there are only two in Wasco County and none in Hood River County. There also aren’t any in Klickitat County, but Washington does have less strict regulations. Last October, however, a pig in Central Oregon contracted the virus, marking a nationwide first.
“The more similar animals get to us, the easier that step becomes,” Fisher said of human-to-human transmission. H5N1 moving directly from birds to humans is like jumping over the Grand Canyon. From pigs to humans, though, Fisher compared it to leaping over a creek — still a big jump, but much easier.
Since they can hold multiple virus strains simultaneously, pigs serve as mixing pots for communicable diseases, most recently causing the 2009 swine flu pandemic.
Symptoms of bird flu range from none to severe illness that requires hospitalization. One person in the U.S. has died so far, and of more than 950 cases reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) between 2003 and 2004, around half have resulted in death. But according to Fisher, that’s exaggerated.
“If you have an asymptomatic infection, WHO is never going to find out about it,” said Fisher. “There could be a lot of low-symptom or asymptomatic bird flu infections that we’re unaware of.”
Most who’ve developed symptoms have milder ones similar to the flu, such as headaches, shortness of breath and fevers, with conjunctivitis being an outlier. Even if the mortality rate is much lower, COVID-19 has demonstrated just how devastating it can be.
Like the CDC, Fisher said the current public health risk is low, but she and many other scientists questioned the federal response. Reporting both on the national level and in the Pacific Northwest documents widespread deference to the dairy industry, concerns about farmworkers’ rights and patchy surveillance, which has led experts to assert there is a vast undercount of bird flu cases in humans.
“The CDC’s mandate is to deal with disease in humans, and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) deals with disease in cows. Here we have a disease in cows that could cross over to humans, and I don’t think the Department of Agriculture is ready — is quite understanding — their role in working with the CDC,” said Fisher. “I feel like there’s a little disconnect.”
The USDA announced the dairy outbreak last March, but it only ordered federal milk testing in December. As of Jan. 16, the CDC required the CDC required that those hospitalized for the flu must be tested for bird flu within 24 hours. How agencies continue to respond, though, is currently uncertain as the Trump administration instructed federal health officials to pause all public communications, according to the New York Times.
Fisher provided several strategies to keep you and your animals safe from bird flu. Given that pasteurization eliminates the virus in diary, as confirmed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), she urged folks to avoid raw milk and feeding pets, cats in particular, raw pet food. In December, a Washington County cat died after eating Northwest Naturals’ two-pound Feline Turkey Recipe, which the FDA subsequently recalled.
According to USDA’s price outlook, the cost of eggs is expected to increase by 20% in 2025 due to the bird flu outbreak, which killed 17.2 million egg-laying hens in November and December. You can monitor other food recalls by visiting USDA's website.
For those with backyard chickens, Fisher recommended wearing a mask, gloves and washing your hands after handling them. Removing bird feeders will help stave off wild bird interactions, too. And as always, cooking all animal products to temperature will kill the virus. Visit cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html for more protective measures and trust your local public health experts.
“We as individuals are trying to improve the health of the community around us,” said Fisher. “I want to reassure the public about the good intentions of people trying to figure this out in a wild and crazy world."
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