avian flu

The agency tested blood from health workers who had been exposed to a person with H5N1 bird flu and later developed flu-like symptoms, raising concerns of human transmission.

A routine flu screening in late summer found the H5N1 virus in a Missouri patient. Unlike the other reported cases of avian flu, this person did not report being in recent contact with animals.

So far, there have been 14 human cases of bird flu this year. All the patients — except the one from Missouri — had been linked to sick dairy cows or poultry.

H5N1 has not been detected in Missouri’s dairy herd, but some of the state’s poultry flock has been affected. Exhibitors bringing Cows to the Missouri State Fair need to have their milk tested before arriving.

The USDA has confirmed 126 cases of bird flu in dairy cattle herds in a dozen states, and three dairy farmworkers have contracted the disease this year. Now Kansas is one of four states participating in a pilot program to test bulk milk tanks on dairy farms.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has hit the U.S. hard over the last year and a half — leaving 60 million chickens and turkeys dead across 47 states. The USDA is working on a vaccine, but that could create new issues.

In extremely rare cases, bird flu can infect and kill cats and dogs when the pets eat birds with the disease.

Customers are paying more at the grocery store for a number of items, but one item is seeing a bigger spike than anything else: Eggs. Plus: Kansans with long COVID struggle to find remedies in one of the only states without dedicated treatment centers.

After the deadly bird flu hit egg-producing flocks, the supply of eggs shrank dramatically. That’s led to historically high prices for consumers.

Surveys say the price of Thanksgiving dinner, including turkey, is up this year. Economists attribute the price increase largely to inflation. While experts say there’s no shortage of turkeys, 8 million birds have died or been culled this year because of a viral disease.

If you’re having turkey for Thanksgiving you’re likely paying more than ever before for the bird. But you might be thankful you got one at all. Turkey producers had to run a gauntlet of pestilence and inflation to provide your Thanksgiving protein this year.

Nearly 5.5 million chickens and turkeys have died or had to be destroyed in Buena Vista County, Iowa, during the latest bird flu outbreak — more than in any other county in the nation. That’s impacted producers, as well as workers and their families.