That\u2019s a sharp rise from August, when just 60,000 birds were affected, according to USDA data.<\/p>\n
The virus has ebbed and flowed since the USDA first confirmed the arrival of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial flock in February 2022.<\/p>\n
However, this time around, we have less insight than before, thanks to staffing cuts at federal labs, rule changes that restrict who government scientists can communicate with and the ongoing federal government shutdown.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told HuffPost the CDC deactivated its H5N1 emergency bird flu response on July 2, 2025.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s now considered a regular program under the purview of the CDC\u2019s Influenza Division, they said, in addition to \u201cother appropriate agency programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
In April, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. drastically shrunk the agency<\/a> tasked with protecting Americans\u2019 health, cutting nearly a quarter of its staff \u2015 equivalent to 20,000 workers.<\/p>\n Wendy Puryear, a virologist at Tufts University, told NPR<\/a> that in the past, influenza researchers were constantly exchanging information with their counterparts in the federal government. That\u2019s no longer the case.<\/p>\n Under Trump, she said, \u201cmuch of that infrastructure has been either completely closed down or significantly hampered.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not in a great position for monitoring things,\u201d she added. \u201cI\u2019ve been deep in the weeds since it arrived here in the U.S., and I\u2019m finding myself in a very uncomfortable place.\u201d<\/p>\n While the USDA continues to track the virus in poultry, livestock<\/a> and wild birds<\/a>, spillover events in the humans who work alongside them are likely going undetected.<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely immigrant workers are not reporting exposures, Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, told the Associated Press<\/a> in May.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t argue with anyone who would be risking getting shipped to a Salvadoran gulag for reporting an exposure or seeking testing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n An Oct. 29 report in JAMA Network Open, an open-access medical journal, identified at least 18 cases<\/a> of asymptomatic H5N1 infections worldwide through Aug. 25, 2025.<\/p>\n In May, RFK <\/a>stated that he plans to<\/a> ban government scientists from publishing in medical journals such as JAMA, The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine.<\/p>\n One bright spot: So far, the risk to humans at large remains low, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases Medical Director Robert Hopkins Jr., MD, said in an update last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe general public is at low risk, but persons who are working with or exposed to dairy cows, those who work with poultry in commercial operations or even in backyard flocks, and persons with direct exposure to wild birds, particularly those that have died, are at increased risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Hopkins advised anyone who encounters a sick or dead bird, or any other potentially sick animal, to give it a wide berth. <\/p>\n TheTideHas Turned<\/p>\n Your SupportFuelsOur Mission<\/p>\n Your SupportFuelsOur Mission<\/p>\n Cut through the chaos<\/p>\n Americans just sent Trump a clear message \u2014 and Dems are calling it “a 5-alarm fire” for the president. Our reporters are here to keep you informed and make sense of Washington’s chaos. Join HuffPost and be part of what happens next.<\/p>\n We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.<\/p>\n Thank you again for your support along the way. We\u2019re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. ![\"Turkeys](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/690e3ae2170000fb0c9c4f2f.jpeg\")
Turkeys enjoy their last days before the Thanksgiving holiday at Ashley Farms in Flanders, N.J., Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018.<\/p>\n