Avian influenza

Avian influenza is affecting poultry flocks, wild waterfowl, marine mammals, bears, foxes, leopards, cows, cats, dogs and humans, among other species. What’s behind such a high rate of interspecies transmission?

The researchers say the device could keep farmers from having to cull their flocks when they detect the contagious virus, which has affected more than 5 million birds in Missouri since 2022.

Avian flu has been found in 13 of Missouri's commercial poultry producers and egg farm flocks in the last month. Close to 400,000 birds in commercial flocks have been affected in the state.

Each week some revelation about bird flu seems to flutter through the news cycle. Here's what the latest research is saying about how it is spreading and how to keep yourself and your pets safe.

The agency tested the blood of health care workers who had been in contact with a Missouri patient who tested positive for the virus without animal contact.

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

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services detected the first human case of H5 bird flu in Missouri. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the case. Infection transmission among the public remains low.

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.

State officials and scientists are cautioning backyard flock owners to be on high alert for bird flu. The highly contagious disease has reached small flocks in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.

Researchers at St. Louis University are recruiting volunteers to test a new vaccination for avian influenza.The vaccination targets the H7N9 strain, which…