Here’s The Appropriate Amount To Freak Out About The Bird Flu

“Could the bird flu become airborne?” “Experts are anxious that bird flu could become airborne — and jump-start another pandemic.” “Waffle House places surcharge on eggs due to bird flu.” Whether the onslaught of headlines about bird flu makes you anxious about a new pandemic arising or the price of your favorite mediocre grits bowl going up, it’s OK to have questions about the H5N1 virus. But let’s establish one thing now: There’s no need to panic.

For starters, Dr. Shalika Katugaha, system medical director of Infectious Diseases at Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Florida, says the surplus of news articles about bird flu is actually kind of encouraging to her. The fact that we know so much about bird flu’s progression right now — and the reason it’s constantly in the news — is because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and medical authorities are doing a great job gathering data, making it available to doctors and the public, and mitigating the risks and spread of the virus.

With that in mind, here’s what you need to know about bird flu.

What’s the status of bird flu in the U.S. right now?

H5N1, also known as bird flu, is a type of influenza A virus that primarily affects wild birds but can spread to other animals, including poultry, livestock, pets, and humans. "The virus is being spread as wild birds comingle with birds in commercial poultry operations," Axios reports. Katugaha says the wild birds in question are water birds, like ducks and storks. No need to fear the crows in the grocery store parking lot (any more than usual, that is).

According to the CDC, there have been 70 confirmed cases in people since the first human case in March 2024, including one whose death was reported in January 2025. The Louisiana Department of Health states this individual was "over the age of 65 and was reported to have underlying medical conditions." They were exposed to the virus because of their backyard flock of poultry, which likely contracted it from wild birds.

Experts are not worried about the general public's health because most of us are not exposed to wild birds, poultry, or livestock regularly. “We're still hearing about some new cattle herds and some new poultry flocks each week getting infected. It does seem to be slowing in pace compared to the prior year, and the number of human cases has been holding quite steady now for some months,” says Dr. Shira Doron, chief infection control officer for the Tufts Medicine Health System and a member of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Task Force with the Infectious Disease Society of America.

"The current public health risk is low, but the CDC is watching carefully and working with the state governments to monitor people with exposures. It's low because right now it is not spread from human to human. Those are the types of diseases that typically get out of control and give us a pandemic," Katugaha explains.

What states has bird flu been found in?

If you are curious about which states have outbreaks — whether in their wild bird population or on farms — you can view that information on the CDC’s website (check under the “H5 Bird Flu Detections in USA” heading).

Most people confirmed to have bird flu were farm workers in California, Washington, and Colorado. Eleven other states have just one or two recorded cases in humans, including Iowa, Michigan, and Louisiana, per CDC data. As of press time, 17 states had documented bird flu outbreaks in dairy cattle herds.

Is it safe to drink milk right now?

On April 21, Reuters reported that the FDA would be “suspending a quality control program for testing of fluid milk and other dairy products due to reduced capacity in its food safety and nutrition division.” This included the suspension of existing and developing programs that would help detect bird flu in fluid milk and cheeses. The FDA no longer had enough employees to keep up the testing following the Trump administration's sweeping staff cuts to the federal workforce, including 20,000 employees of the Department of Health and Human Services — which encompasses the FDA, according to Reuters.

All this begs the question: Can you get bird flu from drinking dairy milk? Doron says what truly makes milk safe or not is pasteurization, and that we do not have to avoid dairy products at the grocery store. “People have not been getting this infection from eating things from the grocery store. Pasteurization kills pathogens, and it's very effective. Regular grocery store milk is safe, but raw milk is not,” she says, calling raw milk a “fad” that is “especially unsafe today.”

Can you get bird flu from eating eggs (or chicken, or turkey, or beef)?

Nope, you’re good there too. “You can't get it from your eggs in a grocery store. You can get it through raw milk, or if you're going to a farm to get something straight from an animal. But really, if you're going to a grocery store for your eggs, there's a [cleaning] process that happens before it gets to the grocery store,” Katugaha says.

Is bird flu going to be a pandemic?

As with any influenza virus, it is possible for the H5N1 virus to mutate and become contagious from person to person. A report from The New York Times says the H5N1 virus has “gained some of the mutations required to go airborne,” though it’s unclear if or when it would develop enough to pass from human to human. While it’s possible, a bird flu pandemic is not imminent, and there are no signs the H5N1 virus is anywhere close to being spreadable on that level anytime soon.

While the threat of bird flu becoming a pandemic is currently low, Doron says this is why funding for surveillance and preparedness is so important. It’s what allows scientists to perform genetic sequencing on the virus and detect its mutations early, like whether it is resistant to antiviral medications now or transmissible from mammal to mammal.

“There's always the potential for any of the avian influenza — and there are more than one — to become a pandemic. That's why we are concerned when we hear about cuts to surveillance and pandemic preparedness,” she says.

Can bird flu be cured?

Katugaha says that in the exceedingly unlikely case that you or someone you love is exposed to or contracts bird flu, you can take oseltamivir (aka Tamiflu) to treat it. If you think you’ve been exposed, let your doctor know ASAP so they can prescribe it right away

Preventing bird flu exposure

Most of us won’t need to actively do anything to prevent catching it either, since exposure comes from, well, birds. “Avoid direct contact with wild birds and observe them from a distance whenever possible. Avoid contact between your pets, like dogs and cats, and wild birds. Don’t touch sick or dead birds, bird feces, or any water, like ponds, that you think could be contaminated,” Katugaha says. If you’re someone who does come in contact with wild birds or poultry — maybe you keep backyard chickens or ducks, for example — you should handle them with gloves and protective masks, she adds.

According to the CDC, bird flu is kind of like COVID — it can be mild, even asymptomatic for some, or severe. Watch for:

• Cough
• Eye redness (conjunctivitis)
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Headaches
• Mild flu-like upper respiratory symptoms
• Muscle or body aches
• Pneumonia requiring hospitalization
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Sore throat

There is no treatment for pets, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, so it would be up to your dog or cat’s body to fight off the infection. If you live somewhere with a documented outbreak of bird flu, you should monitor your pet while they’re outside and keep an eye out for symptoms. Doron cites raw pet food as a possible risk factor in your pets contracting bird flu right now, so sticking with a store-bought option is best.

So, if you’ve been a little caught up in all the other world news right now, that’s the gist of all things bird flu for now. Medical authorities are watching and waiting, and unless you work in the farming industry or happen to have a passel of chickens in your care, this virus will probably pass you and your family right on by.