It is the season of “getting sick.” As students are becoming comfortable with their semester at university following what seemed to be a chilly winter for Louisiana, one cannot ignore the coughs and heavy sniffles echoing through a classroom.
The common cold and flu is usually the culprit to the yearly wintery sickness, but humans are not the only ones getting sick right now.
The avian influenza A (H5N1) virus leads to the bird flu, infecting mostly birds and cows, according to the Cleveland Clinic. However, if humans consume improperly cooked infected birds’ eggs or beef or work closely with infected animals in farms, then they can acquire the virus as well. The bird flu’s H5N1 strain was announced “widespread” in the state of Massachusetts on Jan. 29.
Despite avian influenza being the main virus, one of its strains, H5N1, is the current frenzy in the U.S. H5 subtypes are the most regular subtypes to infect humans in the past, although it is rare.
Louisiana reported its first severe case of avian influenza A (H5N1) virus on Dec. 18, 2024, where a patient was hospitalized. On Jan. 6 this year, the Louisiana Department of Health reported the death of the patient. Although, the patient was over 65 years old and had underlying medical conditions.
On Jan. 24, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry reported a case of H5N1 in a feral domesticated cat in Plaquemines Parish. As of now, no human cases of H5N1 have been reported recently in Louisiana, but the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has identified 67 human cases throughout the nation so far.
Animals who contract avian influenza virus usually do not show symptoms and can spread it to other animals around them because of mutations.
Animals that have the bird flu often die. However, it can hence be tricky to identify which animals are sick, especially when dealing with animals that humans consume, like chickens and cattle.
The CDC reports that there is an outbreak in bird flu in dairy cattle in many states in the U.S. along with sporadic, or inconsistent, outbreaks in poultry flocks. Hence, if one has noticed that eggs at local supermarkets seem a little higher than before, it may be because of the bird flu.
Standard procedure when a case of bird flu is identified at a farm follows mass slaughter of nearly the entire flock of chickens. This leads to less eggs being produced, a higher demand and hence, higher priced eggs. Despite chicken slaughter, cattle are not slaughtered if they have the bird flu, according to AP News.
Humans can contract H5N1 if they come in contact with bodily fluids, like droppings or milk, of an infected animal.
Drinking raw milk from cattle currently seems to be the way humans get sick with bird flu.
Fully cooking meat to appropriate temperatures and drinking pasteurized milk prevent humans from contracting H5N1.
Symptoms of bird flu in humans include pink eye, fever, cough, sore throat, muscle ache, nausea and vomiting, runny nose, difficulty breathing and diarrhea, although not limited to these.
If such symptoms are observed, one should see a medical professional immediately for treatment, as untreated bird flu can lead to pneumonia or, more severely, sepsis (bacteria in bloodstream), leading to infection of the brain.