Fears that humans may someday catch avian flu have heightened as the virus been contracted by mammals, the USDA announced.
Three states — Washington, Montana, and Kentucky — have reported cases of bird flu in mammals so far this year. Washington reported three striped skunks have the virus, while Montana found it in a mountain lion, and Kentucky had a raccoon, according to the USDA.
The virus is already widespread among wild birds and especially poultry for decades, with more than 82 million animals currently affected across 48 states.
Now that it has spread to mammals, the fear of humans catching the virus has spiked, even though risk is currently low.
“I think it’s quite likely,” Dr. Chris Walzer, with the Wildlife Conservation Society, told CBS News. “This avian influenza outbreak has been one of the largest threats to wildlife globally. We just can’t wait for it to hit human populations.”
Walzer is calling for better tracking of the disease to help protect humans from the virus as it is acquiring “new traits that could create a problem for us humans,” he said.
Scientists everywhere are now being urged to watch for signs of avian flu’s spread, according to CBS News.
The bird flu has also been found in marine animals in South America, according to a new study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Research used genomic testing and found nearly identical samples of the virus in four sea lions and a seal, according to the Wildlife Society.
In Argentina, Chile, and Peru alone, H5N1 has killed at least 600,000 wild birds and 50,000 mammals since 2022.
The virus has caused US egg prices to surge as California’s massive poultry industry has been struck.
Sunrise Farms in Sonoma County had to slaughter entire flock of 550,000 hens, per government rules.
