Bird flu could be on the cusp of transmitting between humans − but there are ways to slow down viral evolution

Disease forecasts are like weather forecasts: We cannot predict the finer details of a particular outbreak or a particular storm, but we can often identify when these threats are emerging…

CDC layoffs strike deeply at its ability to respond to the current flu, norovirus and measles outbreaks and other public health emergencies

In just a few short weeks, the Trump administration has brought drastic changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health. Beginning with the removal of websites…

US dodged a bird flu pandemic in 1957 thanks to eggs and dumb luck – with a new strain spreading fast, will Americans get lucky again?

In recent months, Americans looking for eggs have faced empty shelves in their grocery stores. The escalating threat of avian flu has forced farmers to kill millions of chickens to…

Bird flu flares up again in Michigan poultry – an infectious disease expert explains the risk to humans, chickens, cows and other animals

After a relatively quiet fall, there’s been another spike in cases of bird flu in Michigan. When state officials announced on Dec. 16, 2024, that bird flu had been found…

Avian flu has infected dairy cows in more than a dozen states – a microbiologist explains how the virus is spreading

The current strain of avian flu, H5N1, is responsible for the culling of millions of domestic birds and has sickened more than a dozen farmworkers in 2024, most recently in…