How Does Bird Flu Spread to Humans? Symptoms & Ways to Protect Yourself

How does bird flu (avian influenza) spread to humans?

People can get bird flu by being in close or prolonged contact with infected birds or other animals. Although it’s rare for bird flu to spread from person to person, humans can become infected with bird flu if they come in contact with an infected animal’s body fluid, such as mucus, saliva, or feces. You can also get it by breathing in dust or droplets with the virus, working with or drinking raw milk from infected animals, or by touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands after touching contaminated items or surfaces.

Signs & Symptoms of Bird Flu

Symptoms of bird flu include pink eye, fever, cough, and sore throat. In the United States, the most recent cases of bird flu have caused pink eye and mild respiratory symptoms. Signs and symptoms of bird flu in humans, which can range from mild to severe, include: Chills Fever Cough Fatigue Pink eye Sore throat Headaches Body aches Stuffy or runny nose Diarrhea, nausea or vomiting Pneumonia requiring hospitalization Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath (dyspnea)

How to Protect Yourself From Bird Flu

Only consume pasteurized dairy products. Dairy cows and other animals infected with bird flu can pass the virus through their milk, so choosing pasteurized milk and products made with pasteurized milk is the best way to protect yourself from bird flu. Pasteurization kills harmful bacteria and viruses in milk, without affecting the milk’s taste or nutritional value.

Fully cook eggs, meat, and poultry. Bird flu cannot be transmitted when you cook poultry, meat and eggs to an internal temperature of 165°F (73.9°C). You should also follow food safety guidelines to avoid cross contaminating food, such as keeping raw poultry and eggs away from prepared and uncooked foods.

Get your seasonal flu vaccine. Although seasonal flu vaccines won’t prevent infection with bird flu viruses, it can reduce the risk of serious illness and getting both bird flu and seasonal influenza at the same time.

Wash your hands thoroughly and often. Wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds, especially after contact with animals (or their environments) and before eating and drinking. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are less effective at inactivating bird flu compared to handwashing.

Avoid contact with wild, sick, or dead birds and livestock. Do not touch or come into contact with animals who are sick or may be infected. This includes surfaces or materials, such as litter or bedding material, that may be contaminated. Bird flu can be airborne, so you want to avoid contact with their saliva, feces, mucus and the space the animals occupy. If you’re visiting a foreign country with an outbreak, avoid going to live animal markets or poultry farms.

Wear personal protective equipment if you work with animals. Take extra precautions if you have to contact birds or other animals who may be infected with bird flu. This includes wearing gloves, goggles or a face shield, a NIOSH® approved respirator, coveralls, a head cover, and boots. Try to work outdoors or in well-ventilated indoor areas, and change your clothes and footwear and shower immediately after work.

Keep your pets away from dead, infected, or potentially infected animals. Although dogs and cats are unlikely to get bird flu, do not give them raw milk, raw pet food or unpasteurized dairy products. Supervise them closely when they’re outside so they stay away from sick or dead birds and animals. Signs and symptoms of bird flu in dogs and cats include: Fever Lethargy Low appetite Difficulty breathing Reddened or inflamed eyes Discharge from the eyes and nose Neurologic signs (tremors, seizures, incoordination or blindness)

Can bird flu kill humans?

Bird flu can be fatal, but the severity of illness varies from person to person. Most people recover from bird flu, but some can become severely ill and die. As of now, there has only been one confirmed death from bird flu in the United States, but 464 people have died from bird flu worldwide since 2003. If you have symptoms of bird flu, seek medical help immediately.

How to Treat Bird Flu

Antiviral medications can be used to treat bird flu. If you develop symptoms of bird flu after being exposed to raw milk or birds or other animals that may be infected, contact your healthcare provider immediately for testing and treatment. They may prescribe antiviral medications, such as Oseltamivir (Tamiflu®), Peramivir (Rapivab®) or Zanamivir (Relenza®) to reduce the severity of the virus, prevent complications and improve the chances of survival. Antiviral medications work best within 48 hours of developing symptoms.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is bird flu? Also known as avian influenza, bird flu is an infectious type of influenza that usually spreads among birds and other animals. Bird flu viruses normally live in wild water birds, such as ducks and geese, but they can spread to domestic birds, like chickens, guinea hens and turkey, and some other wild and domestic animals, like seals, foxes, cats, and cattle. Bird flu rarely infects people, but there have been some rare cases of human infection with the virus. There are many subtypes of bird flu, but the current strain of bird flu that is spreading in the United States and globally is avian influenza A(H5).

Is there a bird flu vaccine? No, there is no commercially available vaccine against avian influenza at the moment. The FDA has approved 3 bird flu vaccines in the past (2007, 2013, and 2020), but health officials say these strains are outdated because the virus is always mutating (similar to the seasonal flu). The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has developed candidate vaccines for the current strain, but they will only be used if health officials deem that it’s necessary.

How do cattle get bird flu? Similar to humans, cattle and other animals can get bird flu by breathing in the virus from contaminated dust, eating infected animals, or coming into direct contact with the body fluids of infected animals.

Could bird flu cause a pandemic? It’s possible. If the current version of bird flu mutates so it can spread easily between humans, it could cause a pandemic. The transmission of bird flu to mammals, such as dairy cows, is concerning to health officials because it gives the virus the chance to evolve to a strain that could spread among humans.

How worried should I be about bird flu? Currently, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says bird flu is a low risk to the public, and they are “watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with exposures to animals that are infected or potentially infected.” Unless you work with livestock or are around sick birds, you don’t need to be extremely worried at the moment, according to health experts.

Is bird flu the reason why there are no eggs in stores? Yes, anytime bird flu is found on a poultry farm, the entire flock is euthanized to help prevent the virus from spreading. Since the beginning of this most recent outbreak in 2022, there has been a decrease in the number of egg–laying chickens, which is why egg prices have risen and there has been a shortage of eggs.