"The presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N9 of the Eurasian goose/Guangdong lineage (…) and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 (…) has been confirmed in a commercial duck farm in Merced County, California," indicates the World Organisation for Animal Health (WHO). "This is the first confirmed case of H5N9 HPAI in poultry in the United States.", underlines the organization, which ensures global monitoring of animal diseases.
According to the WHO report, this case was confirmed on January 13, 2025 and its origin is not known. The 119,000 poultry on the farm were euthanized. "The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in collaboration with state animal and wildlife officials, conducts extensive epidemiologic investigations and enhanced surveillance in response to highly pathogenic avian influenza events," is it still indicated.
Without cooperation between the United States and the WHO, international tracking of the virus would be more difficult
The emergence of a new strain in the United States comes as President Donald Trump, who came to power on January 20, signed an executive order to withdraw the country from the World Health Organization (WHO), an organization he had previously strongly criticized for its management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read also'WHO ripped us off': Trump signs executive order to withdraw US from World Health Organization
This withdrawal is all the more worrying because it comes at a time when the high circulation of the bird flu virus in the United States among animals (H5N1 strain) is increasing fears of a future pandemic among humans. Without cooperation and information sharing between the United States and the WHO, international monitoring of the virus would be more difficult.
First human death linked to H5N1 virus
The country recorded its first human death linked to the virus in early January. H5N1 virus. For now, the outbreak of bird flu is limited to animals. The sixty or so human cases recorded in the United States, including the one who died, were caused by direct exposure to an animal, and the WHO specifies that no transmission between humans has been recorded. But scientists fear that bird flu, coupled with seasonal flu, could mutate into a form contagious between humans and trigger a pandemic.
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