General Discussion

Aude Lecrubier
April 02, 2025

Rapid spread of the H5N1 avian influenza virus has reached an “unprecedented” scale this season, wiping out hundreds of millions of birds worldwide and increasingly infecting mammals, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations warned on March 16. The spread of the virus poses significant risks from food and public health perspectives.

In a statement, FAO deputy director general Godfrey Magwenzi stressed that the crisis threatens to have “serious impacts on food security and food supply in countries.”

In the United States, for instance, egg prices hit record highs in February as workers were forced to cull more than 166 million birds, primarily laying hens, according to the FAO. The organization also reported that “at least 300 new species of wild birds have been affected since 2021, posing a serious threat to biodiversity” ...

Beyond the food crisis, the intense circulation of the virus has led to spillover from birds to mammals, raising alarms among researchers ...

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/bird-flus-unprecedented-global-spread-sparks-alarm-2025a10007w2?form=fpf