Bird flu (H5N1) in the United States

H5 bird flu spread through U.S. dairy cattle and poultry starting in 2024 and infected a small number of people, almost all of them farm workers. CDC rates the risk to the general public as low.

Clinical editor Parth Bhavsar, MDFollows CDC H5 situation summary, March 2026; MMWR May 2026Sources checked October 5, 2026

What CDC says now

"While the current public health risk is low, CDC is watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with animal exposures."[1] As of October 2026, CDC's flu surveillance "currently show[s] no indicators of unusual influenza activity in people, including avian influenza A(H5)."[2]

Of the 71 U.S. cases, 64 were found by monitoring people exposed to infected animals and 7 through routine flu surveillance.[1] In July 2025 CDC folded its bird flu updates into its routine weekly flu reporting and stopped posting animal detection counts, which are now reported by USDA.[1]

The H5N5 case

In November 2025 an older Washington resident with lymphoma who kept a backyard flock died after infection with H5N5, the first human H5N5 infection reported anywhere in the world. Public health workers monitored about 135 contacts and found no further cases.[3]

Who should take precautions

People who work with dairy cattle, poultry, or wild birds, or who keep backyard flocks: use protective equipment, and report eye redness or flu symptoms within 10 days of exposure to your health department.
Everyone: avoid raw (unpasteurized) milk and raw pet food, and do not touch sick or dead birds or animals. Pasteurized milk and properly cooked poultry and eggs are safe.

Does the seasonal flu shot protect against bird flu?

No. Seasonal vaccines are designed for human flu strains. They still matter, because they reduce the chance that a person is infected with human and bird flu at the same time, the situation in which the viruses could swap genes.

Elsewhere in the world

Between August 2025 and June 2026, 12 human H5N1 infections were reported in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and India, including 3 deaths. More than 1,000 human cases have been reported worldwide since 1997.[4]

Swine flu variants

Four people, all children, were infected with swine-origin H1N2v flu in the 2025–26 season, including two in Michigan who had visited the same agricultural fair where pigs were sick.[5] Variant cases are usually mild and tied to direct contact with pigs at fairs.