Bird flu’s big question: What’s driving its spread

AXIOS May 3, 2024
Alison Snyder

The bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle that’s swept across nine U.S. states is posing perplexing questions about how the virus is spreading between animals and the risk posed to humans.

Why it matters: Detecting viral spread early and limiting how long the flu circulates in a population of animals cuts the odds it will mutate and adapt to other species.

• The fact that the virus has infected a range of animals and is already in more than 30 herds — and the resulting potential for contact with humans and other animals — has public health experts’ radar up.

“It’s a really important moment,” says Thomas Gillespie, a disease ecologist at Emory University.

• “At the moment, it...

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