A pig was infected with bird flu in Oregon, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Wednesday. It’s the first time bird flu, also known as the H5N1 virus, infected a pig in the United States — a troubling development, as this gives the pathogen another mammalian reservoir that could raise the risk of a pandemic.
Meanwhile, six bird flu cases were confirmed in humans in Washington and three more human cases were reported in California this week, bringing the national total of human infections to 36 cases since April 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Tuesday. The rate at which humans are being infected with the virus is accelerating, with more than half of the confirmed cases in humans thus far reported in the past two weeks.
