For more than a year, New York Times science and global health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli has been tracking bird flu, which recently jumped to both cattle and humans here in the United States. In recent weeks, a second strain of the virus, H5N1, has been circulating throughout the US, leading to the first American to die from it.
"We're just seeing a lot more signs that the virus is starting to maybe gain some mutations that make it easier for it to infect people. I know nobody really wants to think about another huge infectious disease outbreak, but it's starting to look like this virus might actually be capable of causing another one at some point," says Mandavilli.
Spread through fecal matter and affecting the respiratory system, H5N1 is highly contagious. Farmers have had to cull entire flocks while human infections have been linked to close contact with infected birds or animals. Mandvalli advises avoiding raw milk and meat due to the virus' presence.
Biosecurity measures on poultry farms are well-established but cattle farms have been slower to adopt them. The USDA has started testing bulk milk for the virus but communication between federal agencies has been limited.