Bird Flu

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 U.S. Department of Agriculture is projecting that egg prices will decrease in the coming months. But experts said that all depends on whether there are any further bird flu outbreaks.

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.

Four months after the first reported cases of bird flu in dairy cows, the price of milk and demand for it have largely remained unchanged. Industry experts say whether that remains the case will depend on how far and how quickly cases spread.

With bird flu spilling into dairies across the U.S., several Midwestern states have ramped up efforts to curb the virus. Few have expanded testing requirements like Iowa.

There are still no confirmed cases of the H5N1 influenza virus in Illinois' dairy livestock after the federal government enacted mandatory testing and reporting for interstate travel.

After the deadly bird flu hit egg-producing flocks, the supply of eggs shrank dramatically. That’s led to historically high prices for consumers.

The annual Christmas Bird Count runs from Wednesday through Jan. 5. The longest-running citizen science tradition in the nation, it will allow bird watchers to see if there is decline in bird species across the St. Louis region due to avian influenza and global warming.

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.