New strain of bird flu detected in Merced County

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- As the price for a carton of eggs continues to soar nationwide, so does the number of bird flu cases.

A new variant has been detected at a commercial duck farm in Merced County. This new subtype is both a different and rarer strain of bird flu -- detected at a commercial duck farm in Merced County.

According to the global health alert, the farm was ordered to euthanize nearly 119,000 infected poultry.

"It is causing huge outbreaks among poultry, among cows," says Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Currently, California has the majority of confirmed cases of bird flu.

"The important aspect is most of the cases have been mild," says Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF Fresno.

The virus has spread since the first reported case of bird flu in the U.S. last December.

"It rarely stays in poultry and cow; it is now spilling over into humans," says Dr. Jha.

Currently, there are 67 confirmed cases of bird flu among humans nationwide: two of them in children, and one death in Louisiana.

"I do think there are probably dozens, if not hundreds, of cases out there that we have missed through our testing programs," says Dr. Jha. He added, "We need better surveillance on farms; need better surveillance in the livestock because we need to know where this virus is spreading."

That type of monitoring is crucial to the work carried out by the Centers for Disease Control.

"Like in COVID, trust, transparency, and timely communication are really important," says Dr. Chin-Hong.

Those important updates provided by the CDC and other federal health agencies were put on pause following a recent order by the Trump Administration.

"You need federal health for resources, for coordination, and to prevent misinformation," says Dr. Chin-Hong.

The halt of health updates could also have ripple effects on patient care.

"That is information that goes to local, city, county and state public health officials. They need that information. All of that has stopped. It has got to get back going," says Dr. Jha.

To avoid contracting bird flu, health experts advise against consuming raw milk, feeding raw milk or meat to your pets, specifically cats, and handling dead birds.

Another important health practice is to wear protective equipment if a pet is sick in your household.

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