The United States confirmed its first outbreak of the deadly H7N9 bird flu on a poultry farm since 2017, adding to the challenges posed by another bird flu strain, H5N1, which has already infected humans and driven egg prices to record highs, according to Reuters.
The outbreak was detected on a farm in Noxubee, Mississippi, housing 47,654 commercial broiler breeder chickens, according to a report by the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has devastated poultry flocks worldwide, disrupting supply chains and contributing to rising food prices. The spread of the virus to mammals, including dairy cows in the US, has heightened concerns among governments about the potential for a new pandemic.
The H5N1 strain has been particularly damaging in recent years, causing significant poultry losses and the death of one person in the US. Meanwhile, the H7N9 strain, first detected in China in 2013, has a high fatality rate among humans, killing 616 of the 1,568 people infected globally, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Health has yet to comment on the outbreak. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced plans to allocate $1 billion to combat the spread of avian influenza, following initial disruptions in the federal response during the early weeks of the Trump administration.
The WHO has noted that neither the H5N1 nor the H7N9 strains appear to transmit easily between humans, reducing the immediate risk of a widespread human pandemic. However, the virus’s ability to infect mammals and its high mortality rate in humans underscore the need for vigilance and coordinated efforts to contain its spread.
