Nationally, this avian flu sickened at least 66 people in 2024, mostly dairy farmworkers who came in contact with diseased animals and contaminated milk. Most cases have been mild, but two infections late last year were more severe and more concerning.

Since early 2024, the U.S. has logged 66 human cases of H5N1. Scientists are keeping a watchful eye on the virus’s spread as we enter a new year.

When the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) transitions its leadership with a new incoming presidential administration, a thorough dialogue concerning vaccination for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) can be expected, a former USDA Under Secretary Hunt Shipman said.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is distancing himself from his anti-vaccine work as he seeks to become the leader of the nation’s top health agency under President Donald Trump, according to government ethics documents released on Wednesday.

The Consumer Price Index found that egg prices have increased 36.8 percent from this time last year, and experts believe the increase in price is the result of avian influenza, which is rapidly depleting the supply of chickens.

Two commercial egg-laying flocks, each comprising over one million birds, are being culled due to an outbreak of avian influenza. One flock tested positive on January 21 in Newton, Missouri, while the second was confirmed today in Mercer County,

Just outside New York City’s Central Park Zoo, not far from where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once stealthily deposited a dead bear cub, stands a bronze statue to another animal: Balto, the husky that, 100 years ago this month, played a leading role in a daring and perilous rescue that captured the world’s attention.

On January 20, his first day in office, US president Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization. “Ooh, that’s a big one," he said as he was handed the document.

No person-to-person spread has been detected, but that doesn’t mean an H5N1 avian influenza pandemic isn’t possible or even probable.

Changing the membership of an obscure advisory committee could have an outsize effect on Americans’ protection against disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is going dark, along with other federal agencies within the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This week, the returning Trump administration told these agencies to stop talking to the public—for how long, no one knows.

The Trump administration has ordered federal health agencies to halt external communications — including health advisories and ongoing scientific updates — until at least Feb. 1, according to multiple national media outlets and health organizations.