United States: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently confirmed bird flu in rats for the very first time.
The occurrence of Bird Flu H5N1 avian influenza was confirmed in four black rats located in Riverside County, California, which had already experienced two poultry-related outbreaks, as reported by HealthDay.
Bird Flu Spreads to Other Mammals
Sickness from birds at local farms led to rat infections, based on official statements.
The USDA published its Feb. 19 update revealing that bird flu affected various mammals, including a fox from North Dakota, a bobcat from Washington State, a mountain lion from Wisconsin, a harbor seal from Massachusetts, and two domestic cats from Oregon.
Staff Shortages Amid Outbreak
The National Veterinary Service reported that raw pet food infected with the virus was most likely responsible for the Oregon cat outbreak.
The discovery emerged at a critical time for the USDA which needed to rehire its dismissed bird flu expert staff following budgetary cuts. The Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk, proposed these cuts according to budget proposals.
“Although several positions supporting [bird flu] were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” the USDA said in a statement to CBS News.
Officials declared veterinarians and emergency response workers would not get laid off for the sake of continuing virus management efforts.
Widespread Impact of Bird Flu
Since bird flu emerged across the United States during 2022 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that more than 162 million birds have suffered from its effects, as reported by HealthDay.
The virus was identified for the first time in dairy cows in March 2024 while 70 human cases were mainly found within the dairy and poultry workforce.
A Louisiana citizen died from this virus based on CDC statistics.