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Gone quiet · last update Nov 22, 2025 / United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The H5N1 bird flu outbreak in US cattle, poultry and people

Overview · reviewed October 21, 2026

H5N1 bird flu spread through US poultry flocks from 2022 and was detected in dairy cows in March 2024.[1][2] It infected farmworkers and others, drove up egg prices and led to a national milk testing order.[3] The first US death from the virus was announced in Louisiana in January 2025.[4]

Read the timeline

Follow this story to see new developments when you return.

It infected farmworkers and others, drove up egg prices and led to a national milk testing order.[3] The first US death from the virus was announced in Louisiana in January 2025.[4]

Coverage over time

Share of tracked outlets · monthly average of weekly shares (UTC)

Feb 2022: average weekly share 2% (left 1%, center 1%, right under 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2022: average weekly share 1% (left 0%, center 1%, right under 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksApr 2022: average weekly share 6% (left 2%, center 3%, right 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksMay 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJun 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJul 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksAug 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksSep 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksOct 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksNov 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksDec 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJan 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksFeb 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksApr 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMay 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJun 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJul 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksAug 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksSep 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksOct 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksNov 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksDec 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJan 2024: average weekly share 2% (left 1%, center 1%, right 1%), from 5 of 5 weeksFeb 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2024: average weekly share 3% (left 1%, center 2%, right 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksApr 2024: average weekly share 14% (left 5%, center 7%, right 2%), from 5 of 5 weeksMay 2024: average weekly share 12% (left 4%, center 6%, right 2%), from 4 of 4 weeksJun 2024: average weekly share 6% (left 1%, center 3%, right 2%), from 4 of 4 weeksJul 2024: average weekly share 4% (left 1%, center 2%, right 1%), from 5 of 5 weeksAug 2024: average weekly share 1% (left under 1%, center 1%, right under 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksSep 2024: average weekly share 5% (left 1%, center 3%, right 1%), from 5 of 5 weeksOct 2024: average weekly share 5% (left 2%, center 3%, right 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksNov 2024: average weekly share 10% (left 2%, center 6%, right 2%), from 4 of 4 weeksDec 2024: average weekly share 18% (left 5%, center 10%, right 3%), from 5 of 5 weeksJan 2025: average weekly share 14% (left 3%, center 7%, right 4%), from 4 of 4 weeksFeb 2025: average weekly share 15% (left 4%, center 8%, right 3%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksApr 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMay 2025: average weekly share 1% (left under 1%, center 1%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJun 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJul 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksAug 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksSep 2025: average weekly share 1% (left under 1%, center 1%, right under 1%), from 5 of 5 weeksOct 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksNov 2025: average weekly share 3% (left 1%, center 2%, right 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksDec 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJan 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksFeb 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksApr 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMay 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJun 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJul 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksAug 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksSep 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksOct 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksNov 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 2 of 2 weeks, so far

LeftCenterRight

Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. Over more than two years each bar is a month: the average of that month's weekly shares, so the shape stays readable. The weekly table below keeps every week. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 9 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.

Weekly counts, outlets and reports (45 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)LeftCenterRightOf trackedShareReceipts
Nov 24, 20251203 of 1532%
Nov 17, 202517412 of 1896%
Nov 10, 202528010 of 1885%
Sep 1, 202545110 of 1776%
May 19, 20252406 of 1973%
Feb 24, 2025418527 of 19714%
Feb 17, 2025611421 of 19411%
Feb 10, 2025611623 of 21411%
Feb 3, 20251923850 of 19026%
Jan 27, 20252305 of 2232%
Jan 20, 202547415 of 2267%
Jan 13, 2025217524 of 22811%
Jan 6, 202521332478 of 22135%
Dec 23, 202413341158 of 19230%
Dec 16, 202422381272 of 22632%
Dec 9, 2024312015 of 2087%
Dec 2, 20241126744 of 22819%
Nov 25, 2024723737 of 17821%
Nov 18, 2024517426 of 22512%
Nov 4, 202429415 of 2237%
Oct 28, 2024815225 of 19613%
Oct 21, 202447314 of 1997%
Sep 30, 2024112518 of 2228%
Sep 9, 202438213 of 2306%
Sep 2, 2024613423 of 21211%
Aug 19, 202426311 of 2095%
Jul 29, 20242406 of 2283%
Jul 15, 202448618 of 2208%
Jul 1, 2024514423 of 21311%
Jun 10, 202443310 of 2474%
Jun 3, 20249231446 of 22820%
May 27, 202410281048 of 24719%
May 20, 20241521541 of 22618%
May 13, 202467215 of 2167%
May 6, 202434310 of 2364%
Apr 29, 2024511319 of 2378%
Apr 22, 20242128756 of 22325%
Apr 15, 20240101 of 247under 1%
Apr 8, 202458215 of 2646%
Apr 1, 202424371576 of 26429%
Mar 25, 2024716528 of 24511%
Jan 22, 20241011829 of 23812%
Apr 25, 202213221247 of 20423%
Mar 14, 20220426 of 1833%
Feb 7, 202248113 of 1947%

Latest coverage

The newest reporting in this story's record.

  1. Nov 21, 2025 · first reported · Headline from NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

    Washington state man believed to be the first to die from a rare strain of bird flu

Background

The outbreak began in poultry. The virus was found at an Indiana turkey farm in February 2022, and that April a Colorado prison inmate became the first recent US human case.[1][5] Outbreaks devastated poultry farms, including in California.[6]

Read the full background (4 more paragraphs)

The virus reached dairy cattle in March 2024, when cows in Texas and Kansas tested positive.[2] A person in Texas was diagnosed after contact with cows, and the largest US egg producer found the virus at a Texas plant.[7][8] The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, found traces of the virus in pasteurized milk while saying the supply remained safe.[9]

Human cases followed through 2024. Dairy workers in Michigan, Colorado and California were infected.[10][11][12] A Missouri patient was infected with no known exposure to animals. Officials said the case might be a rare "one-off" and found no evidence that the virus was spreading between people,[13][14] and in November California confirmed the first US infection in a child.[15] California declared a state of emergency, and the first severe US case was confirmed in Louisiana.[16][17]

Bird flu was found in a pig for the first time, and the virus turned up in raw milk.[18][19] In December, the US Department of Agriculture, or USDA, ordered nationwide testing of raw milk.[3]

The first US death came in January 2025, when the Louisiana patient died.[4] A second type of the virus was detected in dairy cows in Nevada.[20] Egg prices climbed and restaurants added surcharges,[21][22] and the Agriculture Department said it had accidentally fired workers tied to the bird flu response and moved to rehire them.[23]

Supporting stories (23)
  1. Agencies: Avian flu found in birds at Indiana turkey farm
  2. Dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas test positive for bird flu
  3. USDA orders nationwide testing of milk for bird flu to halt the virus
  4. First US bird flu death is announced in Louisiana
  5. First recent US case of human bird flu confirmed in Colorado
  6. Avian flu is devastating farms in California's ‘Egg Basket' as outbreaks roil poultry industry
  7. Person is diagnosed with bird flu after being in contact with cows in Texas
  8. Largest US egg producer finds bird flu in chickens at Texas plant
  9. FDA: Bird flu virus fragments found in pasteurized milk; supply remains safe
  10. Michigan farmworker diagnosed with bird flu, becoming 2nd US case tied to dairy cows
  11. Colorado dairy worker tests positive for bird flu, fourth person linked to outbreak
  12. Two California dairy workers were infected with bird flu, latest human cases in US
  13. Officials call Missouri bird flu case a 'one-off' and say risk to public is still low
  14. Officials find no evidence bird flu is spreading between people after Missouri investigation
  15. California case is the first confirmed bird flu infection in a US child
  16. Bird flu is declared a State of Emergency in California
  17. America’s first severe case of bird flu confirmed in Louisiana
  18. 1st US case of bird flu in a pig raises concerns over potential human threat
  19. Raw milk from a California dairy recalled, bird flu virus detected
  20. Second type of bird flu detected in US dairy cows
  21. Waffle House announces $0.50 surcharge on eggs because of bird flu
  22. Egg prices could jump 41% this year, USDA says, as Trump's bird flu plan is unveiled
  23. Agriculture Department tries to rehire fired workers tied to bird flu response

The full record

Each date is when an update was first reported.

All 73 recorded updates

November 2025

  1. Bird flu: first ever death from rare H5N5 strain is recorded in USHeadline from The Guardian · 9 outlets
  2. Washington state man believed to be the first to die from a rare strain of bird fluHeadline from WDIO Duluth · 8 outlets
  3. Washington resident is infected with a different type of bird fluHeadline from WMUR · 10 outlets

September 2025

  1. Cat in San Francisco euthanized after latest bird flu infection tied to raw pet foodHeadline from KOB 4 · 10 outlets

May 2025

  1. The US hasn’t seen a human bird flu case in 3 months. Experts are wondering whyHeadline from Seattle Times · 6 outlets

February 2025

  1. Egg prices could jump 41% this year, USDA says, as Trump's bird flu plan is unveiledHeadline from NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth · 23 outlets
  2. Denny's temporarily adds egg surcharge as bird flu drives up pricesHeadline from KTVU San Francisco · 8 outlets
  3. Agriculture Department tries to rehire fired workers tied to bird flu responseHeadline from KTVB Boise · 20 outlets
  4. Woman hospitalized in Wyoming with H5N1 bird fluHeadline from Los Angeles Times · 9 outlets
  5. State lifts poultry suspension after bird flu outbreakHeadline from Valdosta Daily Times · 5 outlets
  6. Bird flu found in Arizona milk suggests another spillover from birds to cowsHeadline from STAT · 7 outlets
  7. New strain of bird flu is detected in a Nevada dairy worker, CDC saysHeadline from WFMZ Allentown · 9 outlets
  8. New York shuts down live poultry markets after bird flu detectedHeadline from ABC 11 Raleigh · 20 outlets
  9. Second type of bird flu detected in US dairy cowsHeadline from Odessa American · 35 outlets
  10. Waffle House announces $0.50 surcharge on eggs because of bird fluHeadline from NBC News · 23 outlets

January 2025

  1. H5N9 bird flu outbreak: New virus strain detected on California farmHeadline from Fox10 Phoenix · 7 outlets
  2. Price of eggs on the rise, experts contribute the increase to bird fluHeadline from ABC 17 Mid-Missouri · 8 outlets
  3. Bird flu found in a Georgia commercial flock for the first time amid the nationwide outbreakHeadline from New York Post · 19 outlets
  4. CDC urges faster testing to find human bird flu casesHeadline from NBC Chicago · 7 outlets
  5. California man says two of his cats died after drinking raw milk recalled for bird fluHeadline from Minneapolis Star Tribune · 9 outlets
  6. First US bird flu death is announced in LouisianaHeadline from WHEC Rochester · 80 outlets

December 2024

  1. Bird flu virus likely mutated within a Louisiana patient, CDC saysHeadline from KOB 4 · 32 outlets
  2. Cats can get sick with bird flu. Here's how to protect themHeadline from KEZI Eugene · 7 outlets
  3. Pet food recalled over bird flu contamination, house cat deadHeadline from Fox32 Chicago · 33 outlets
  4. Bird flu kills more than half the big cats at a Washington sanctuaryHeadline from KTVZ Bend · 20 outlets

Coverage & sources

Read the reports, see how much was collected over time, or compare outlets by political leaning.

Coverage & sources →