Bird flu expected to hit US in three weeks
U.S. government officials monitoring the spread of avian influenza are expecting the first case to reach Alaska in about three weeks and to hit the West Coast by autumn, Prudential Equity Group said Wednesday.
The H5 pathogen has been confirmed in 51 or more countries, according to the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health, causing the culling of millions of birds across Asia, Europe and, more recently, the Middle East.
The first cases in the U.S. won’t necessarily make humans ill—only the bird version of the disease is expected here, at least initially, said Kim Monk, a Prudential senior health-care-policy analyst.
“The virus might only spread bird to bird or, rarely, bird to human, and it may or may not ever mutate into a human-to-human virus,” said Monk. “So for now, the only real threat is to the poultry industry.”