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Avian Flu Confirmed in Flock of New York Birds

More chickens tested positive for avian flu. This time, a backyard flock in Long Island, N.Y., tested positive for the highly contagious virus. Health inspectors have found the pathogen in birds across the country in recent weeks. But how likely is it to jump to humans?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and New York officials confirmed the positive test for the small, non-commercial flock of chickens last week. Officials will euthanize the sick birds to contain the virus, reports said.

“State officials quarantined the affected premises, and birds on the properties will be depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from the flock will not enter the food system,” the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a statement.

Officials in several states say they are on “high alert” after finding birds that had the virus. Commercial farms in multiple states and several small flocks of chickens have had to put down birds that tested positive for avian flu in the last month. Indiana officials have euthanized more than 100,000 birds so far in the hopes of containing the virus, reports said.

Experts hope they can avoid a major outbreak like the one America had in 2015. Almost 50 million birds died as a result of that.

“Everyone is just sitting on edge because we know what can happen, and we don’t want a repeat of that,” said Denise Heard, vice president of research for the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.

The spread of the virus isn’t just in the United States. Birds in Canada, as well as in several countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia have tested positive for avian flu. Officials in those places have killed tens of millions of birds to stop the spread over the last year.

Can Humans Get Avian Flu?

People can get avian flu, but it’s rare. That doesn’t mean that you should ignore the risks, though. The virus would need to mutate for it to spread to humans. Every new case of the virus in birds is another possible chance for it to adapt and spread to other species.

“An increase in poultry outbreaks inevitably brings the virus into closer and more frequent proximity to humans, which is always a risk with viruses like influenza that can rapidly evolve,” said Dr. Holly Shelton, head of the Influenza Viruses Group at The Pirbright Institute.

Since 2003, 864 people in 19 countries have tested positive for H5Ni, a deadly subtype of the avian flu. More than 450 of them died, The Telegraph reported. A duck expert in England tested positive for the virus last month, but he survived.

While that’s cause for concern, there’s no need to panic. There is no evidence the virus can spread from person to person, experts said. People who got the virus normally have prolonged exposure to birds.