Why bird flu has people worried about more than the price of eggs

We’ve all noticed that chicken eggs cost as much as the Fabergé kind lately—OK, not quite, but the price of eggs has increased over 70% in the past year. At least part of the blame for the spike lies with the avian flu, which has been spreading from wild birds to poultry worldwide.

In the US, over 58 million farm birds have died in the past year as a result of the outbreak (a death toll that includes whole flocks that had to be culled if even one bird got infected). But it’s not just avian safety and omelette prices that have people concerned about the outbreak: There are also fears this bird flu could lead to the next human pandemic.

What’s new with the bird flu?

The A(H5N1) virus has been infecting poultry in Asia and other regions of the world since 1996, but the current outbreak is different in scope and intensity. Not only is the virus sweeping through new places, affecting Europe and the US more extensively than ever before, it’s also become endemic among some wild birds for the first time, per Reuters. More parts of the world are starting to see that it’s no longer a seasonal phenomenon, making poultry vulnerable to infection year-round.

With A(H5N1)’s current iteration, the term “bird flu” increasingly sounds like a misnomer: Scientists in the US have detected it in bears, foxes, raccoons, and other mammals. And a recent outbreak at a mink farm in Spain has shown that it’s now sometimes able to spread among mammals without any birds present.

Flu viruses are particularly inclined to mutate, and if an animal becomes infected with both a human flu and a bird flu, the two different strains can exchange bits of DNA (kind of like the virus version of a sitcom crossover), making it more adept at infecting new hosts.

This development—and humanity’s recent struggle with another high-risk pathogen—has many people wondering whether humans might be next.

So, how risky is it for humans?

Not very. Experts urge vigilance within the medical community, but you don’t have to relocate to an off-the-grid bunker in rural Wyoming just yet.

• Instances of human infection are exceedingly rare: There have been less than 10 cases globally since December 2021, according to the CDC (though the mortality rate tends to be high).
• At the moment, humans mostly contract the virus from infected animals, and farm workers are taking precautions when dealing with birds and livestock.

And in other reassuring news, you don’t need to worry about bird flu in your food—unless you enjoy eating raw eggs or poultry. Heating them to an internal temperature of 165˚F kills bacteria and viruses, A(H5N1) included, per the CDC.

While scientists aren’t immediately concerned about the bird flu setting off the next human pandemic, the situation is already making farming more unpredictable and threatens to render our fauna less diverse.

Looking ahead...A(H5N1) vaccines for birds do exist, but they’re traditionally unpopular due to import bans on vaccinated birds and their limited effectiveness against the ever-mutating virus. The recent outbreak has caused a change of heart in many governments that are testing jabs on birds.—SK