WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged state and local health officials to 'continue operating at enhanced levels' over the next several months to track the bird flu cases.
The CDC advised officials to work with laboratories to increase submissions of positive flu virus samples for subtyping, a process to identify whether a sample is a common flu or bird flu.
The agency further recommended that people working with birds or livestock use personal protective equipment like respirators and goggles to lower the risk of H5N1 infection.
According to the CDC, more than 90 million cases of the H5N1 virus have been detected in wild aquatic birds, poultry and common backyard flocks across the U.S. since January 2022.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization's data shows that 889 human cases of bird flu infections were registered from 2003 to April 2024 across 23 countries. Out of which, 52 percent resulted in death.
H5N1 flu is primarily transmitted through birds, causing symptoms such as discoloration of legs, twisting of the neck, loss of appetite, lethargy, and eyelid swelling. The government had culled around 58 million birds last year to limit the spread of bird flu.
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