TRACKING EMERGING VIRUSES – September 14, 2025 – Bird Flu
“In an unprecedented response to the rapid global spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), stakeholders and experts from across the poultry sector, public health, science and policy spheres convened in Brazil in a landmark meeting to hold a first-ever global, multisectoral dialogue that aims to forge coordinated defense against the escalating threat to animal and human health and agricultural livelihoods.”
“Since 2020, HPAI has expanded rapidly across continents, devastating poultry flocks, impacting biodiversity, trade and food security and raising concerns over its potential to spark a human pandemic. The currently circulating avian influenza panzootic is now widespread and represents one of the most serious pandemic threats, experts warn. Avian influenza has spread to 83 mammal species, including dairy cattle and wildlife, and poses a rapidly evolving risk.
“Avian influenza is no longer a sporadic threat; it’s becoming a global challenge,” said FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol. “No single country or sector can tackle this threat in isolation — and failure is not an option. Practical, science-based collaboration like this is essential to protect our agrifood systems, livelihoods and public health,” she added.” (1)
“Missouri residents will likely never know the name of the first state resident ever to test positive for bird flu, but the now year-old case is still causing concern throughout the public health world.
Officials with Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services confirmed the state’s first human case of bird flu on Sept. 6, 2024. The case triggered “global concern” over the virus’s potential to morph into a major health threat, specifically because it was the first time a human patient had no known link to infected birds or livestock, sparking worries that the virus had started to spread from person to person.”
“Despite calls from public health experts, the nation’s pandemic preparedness has weakened in numerous ways since Missouri’s landmark case. The Trump administration’s recent firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez, its purge of key employees who were working on the virus outbreak, its mass reduction of the nation’s Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response, and its cancellation of plans to develop a bird flu vaccine all go against the wishes of experts to strengthen pandemic response as the bird flu virus changes.
The weakening of the nation’s pandemic preparedness will likely have a direct impact on Missouri’s ability to plan for and respond to another possible virus outbreak. The CDC played a critical role in investigating Missouri’s bird flu case last year, leading in-depth tests of the virus’s specimens.”
“”Without a normally operating, fully-staffed, and fully-functioning CDC, there are going to be potential gaps in our ability as a nation and within individual states to provide an optimal response,” Lawrence said. “Perhaps most importantly is when there is a deficit of leadership and people who have vast amounts of scientific experience in the public health realm, when a lot of those people have left, it creates a void and risks a loss of confidence for much of the country. When that happens, it makes it harder to coordinate large-scale events. If a new pandemic, or a new COVID-19 variant, or a new bird flu develops to transmit person-to-person, there’ll be huge gaps in how we can respond to it.”” (2)
“Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine developed a new and highly effective application of an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to quickly scan notes in electronic medical records and identify high-risk patients who may have been infected with H5N1 avian influenza or “bird flu,” according to new findings published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Using a generative AI large language model (LLM), the research team analyzed 13,494 visits across University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) hospital emergency departments from adult patients in urban, suburban, and rural areas in 2024. These patients all had acute respiratory illness (such as, cough, fever, congestion) or conjunctivitis — symptoms consistent with early H5N1 infections. The goal was to assess how well generative AI could find high-risk patients who may have been overlooked at the time of initial treatment.
Scanning all of the emergency department notes, the model flagged 76 because they mentioned a high-risk exposure for bird flu, such as working as a butcher or at a farm with livestock, like chickens or cows. Usually, these exposures were mentioned incidentally — for example, documenting a patient’s occupation as a butcher or farmworker — and not because of clinical suspicion for bird flu.
After a brief review by research staff, 14 patients were confirmed to have had recent, relevant exposure to animals known to carry H5N1, including poultry, wild birds, and livestock. These patients were not tested specifically for H5N1, so their potential bird-flu infections were not confirmed, but the model worked to find those “needle in a haystack” cases among thousands of patients treated for seasonal flu and other routine respiratory illnesses.” (3)
1.Global dialogue tackles rising pandemic threat from bird flu, https://www.feedstuffs.com/agribusiness-news/global-dialogue-tackles-rising-pandemic-threat-from-bird-flu
2.Missouri’s first human bird flu case marks one-year anniversary as national pandemic preparedness weakens, by Hunter Bassler, https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/health/missouri-first-bird-flu-case-sparks-global-concern-one-year-later-trump-cdc-pandemic-preparedness/63-14bcb3c9-1152-4e8c-aee7-5ba934c076ef
3.Scientists Begin Testing Bird Flu Vaccine in Seals, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/science/bird-flu-seals-vaccine.html
curated by Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H.
Clinical Professor of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai