H5N1 bird flu poses a potential threat, potentially leading to an airborne pandemic. Increased cases in the US have led to vaccine development efforts. Experts warn that ignoring this issue, like with COVID-19,

Another late-2024 study found that viral shedding, the expulsion of viral particles, in the air related to transmissibility in mammals. A virus of H5N1 from an infected Texas dairy worker showed a low but increased ability to transmit by air compared with older strains.

The research team, studying the efficacy of a preventive antibody-based therapy, found it successfully protects monkeys from severe illness caused by Bird flu (H5N1). The researchers realised the neutralising antibody targets a stable region of the virus,

Scientists were slow to recognize that Covid spreads through the air. Some are now trying to get ahead of the bird flu.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been 67 confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the US since 2024. In 64 of those cases, infection has been linked to animal exposure, primarily through dairy cattle herds and poultry farms.

The CDC says more than 150 million birds have been infected with bird flu, causing major price hikes to eggs and the deaths of millions of birds. With the first human death linked to the disease in January,

Dozens of newly confirmed cases of avian influenza in wild birds and the first verified U.S. case of a new strain of the virus are raising concern the bird flu crisis may be entering a troubling new phase.

The National Institutes of Health reports that avian influenza A virus, or bird flu, is now widespread in wild birds all over the world. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) also states that over 18 million birds have contracted the virus in this country.