The study released Aug. 1 analyzed 14 dairy farms from two different regions in California. At those farms, bird flu was detected in the air inside milking parlours as well as in exhaled breath from cows, which would infect both cattle and workers. The virus was also found in the water used to clean the parlours and milking equipment.

Why it matters: While Canadian dairy cattle have escaped bird flu infections so far, poultry farms in some regions have been hammered by the disease.

Some cattle that showed no symptoms of illness were also carriers of bird flu, the study added. However, mastitis found in cattle did not always correlate with bird flu infections.

A potential vaccine against the H5N1 bird flu strain has tested well in non-human primates.

Novavax released pre-clinical data on Aug. 1, which showed strong immune responses in the test subjects with one and two doses of the vaccine, which was administered by injection and by nasal spray.

“Our findings indicate that a single (intramuscular) dose of (the) vaccine might serve as an effective pandemic vaccine in individuals with pre-existing seasonal influenza immunity from vaccination or infection,” Novavax said in a news release.

Brazil’s agriculture minister Carlos Favaro told reporters on Aug. 4 that Chile will re-open its borders to Brazilian poultry.
Chile becomes part of a growing list of countries that have removed restrictions on poultry imports from Brazil, which were implemented after a commercial farm tested positive in May. However, China, the European Union, Canada, Malaysia, East Timor, North Macedonia and Pakistan are still prohibiting all poultry from the South American country. Sixteen other countries have partial restrictions.

In Canada, there are only five premises currently infected with bird flu, the CFIA reported. No Canadian cattle have been infected with the virus.

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All direct and indirect Brazilian poultry imports are banned, and will be returned or destroyed if brought or mailed into the country, China’s General Administration of Customs said in a website notice dated May 29.

Why it matters: Brazil is the largest global poultry exporter and China’s largest chicken supplier.

It also said all animal and plant waste from inbound ships from Brazil must be treated under customs’ supervision and not discarded without authorization.

Brazil, the world’s largest poultry exporter and China’s biggest chicken meat supplier, confirmed a bird flu outbreak on a commercial poultry farm in the city of Montenegro in its southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul on May 16, triggering a slew of international trade bans.

The Brazilian government had asked China to restrict its embargo to poultry products just from the city where the outbreak occurred, but Beijing’s announcement showed it had shrugged off the call for a limited ban.

China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are among the main destinations for Brazil’s chicken exports. The other three countries imposed only statewide bans.

The European Union and South Korea have also banned Brazilian chicken.

Brazil exported some $10 billion of chicken meat in 2024, accounting for about 35 per cent of global trade, making a nationwide ban painful not just for Brazilian farmers but also major importers.

Brazilian farmers have been counting on warming relations between President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese President Xi Jinping to ease the poultry trade ban.

—Reporting by Ella Cao, Xiuhao Chen and Liz Lee

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Coahuila Health Minister Eliud Aguirre said the girl died early in the morning, with the infection causing multiple organ failure.

“We are monitoring all individuals who had close contact with the patient and conducting tests to determine if they are infected. So far, no one has tested positive,” Aguirre added.

—Reporting by Natalia Siniawski and Raul Cortes

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ABPA had initially projected Brazil’s 2025 chicken exports reaching up to 5.4 million tons, up 1.9 per cent compared to the previous year.

But based on outstanding sales in the first weeks of the year, that forecast may prove conservative, said Ricardo Santin, head of the group, in an interview.

“The 5.4 million tons were at the top of the projected range but will likely be revised,” he said, adding more monthly data is required to officially increase the forecast.

Since January 1, more than 34 countries have registered outbreaks of avian influenza, according to data from the World Organization for Animal Health cited by ABPA.

In the United States, Brazil’s main competing exporter, there are more than 60 active outbreaks. There are also 64 outbreaks in the United Kingdom, 76 in Germany, 40 in Poland and 36 outbreaks in the Netherlands, ABPA said.

Brazil never had an outbreak on a commercial farm.

In January, Brazilian chicken shipments increased by almost 10 per cent, driven by increased demand from China, the European Union and the Philippines.

Strong demand drove a 20.9 per cent increase in chicken export revenue.

“February should be no different, based on the weekly partial figures received, which predict shipments of over 450,000 (tons),” ABPA’s statement said.

The first half of the year tends to be seasonally weaker than the second, Santin said, adding initial export performance may boost Brazil’s overall export volumes on a monthly basis at the end of 2025.

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The case broadens the U.S. outbreak of the virus that has infected nearly 70 people, mostly farm workers, since April. The H5N1 virus has reduced milk output in cattle and pushed up egg prices by wiping out millions of laying hens.

The Nevada worker is recovering after suffering from conjunctivitis, or pink eye, the Central Nevada Health District said in a statement. It added that there is no evidence the virus is spreading from person to person and said the CDC considers bird flu to be a low risk to the public.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported for the first time last week that a second strain of bird flu was found in dairy cattle in Nevada, a discovery that ramped up concerns about the U.S. outbreak. The second strain, known as D1.1, was the predominant genotype among wild birds this past fall and winter and has also been found in poultry, the agency said.

One person in Louisiana died who had been hospitalized with the D1.1 genotype.

—Reporting by Tom Polansek

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The agency is advising enhanced safety measures in Minnesota and South Dakota, where turkey flocks with more than 500 birds should be isolated, monitored and tested for bird flu within 72 hours before going to slaughter, USDA said.

Other states may be included later, the agency added.

“The new policy is encouraged, and has support from states and industry, but not required,” USDA spokesperson Lyndsay Cole said in an email.

The changes come after a pet food company, Northwest Naturals, last month recalled cat food made with turkey because it tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture said a cat contracted the disease and died after eating Northwest Naturals’ Feline Turkey Recipe raw and frozen pet food contaminated with the virus.

Nearly 70 people in the U.S., most of them farmworkers, have contracted bird flu since April, as the virus has circulated among poultry flocks and dairy herds. Three people have tested positive without a clear source of exposure to the virus, according to the CDC. There is no confirmation that any people became infected by eating food that contained the virus.

Increased testing and surveillance of turkey flocks aim to remove a potential avenue for spreading the disease and to bolster confidence among consumers and trading partners, the agency said.

Minnesota, the nation’s biggest turkey producer, and South Dakota have suffered bird flu outbreaks in flocks.

“These states were selected because of genetic linkages to the virus from infected cats and because of the high percentage of cases in turkeys in those states,” USDA said.

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The ongoing bird flu outbreak, which began in poultry in early 2022, has killed more than 130 million commercial, backyard and wild birds in all 50 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bird flu is also circulating among dairy cattle herds and has infected nearly 70 people, most of them farm workers exposed to sick poultry or cattle.

The U.S. built a poultry vaccine stockpile after the prior major bird flu outbreak in 2014 and 2015, though the vaccines were never used, the agency said in a press release.

“Due to the introduction of new HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) strains, namely D1.1 from wild birds, and persistent outbreaks among commercial poultry farms, USDA believes it is prudent to again pursue a stockpile that matches current outbreak strains,” the release said.

Egg and turkey farm groups have called for deploying a vaccine, citing the economic toll for farmers of killing their flocks.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has said such deployment would not be possible in the short term, in part due to trade risks. Many countries ban imports of vaccinated poultry over concerns the vaccine could mask the presence of the virus.

The USDA also said it has enrolled 28 states in its national bulk milk testing program to detect bird flu in dairy herds, and that testing so far had not detected new infected herds in states that previously were virus-free.

In the past 30 days, USDA has reported infected herds in California and Texas, according to agency data.

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The country in December reported its first severe human case of bird flu in a Louisiana resident, who was hospitalized in a critical condition after suspected contact with an infected backyard flock.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 61 human cases nationally since April, mostly in workers on dairy farms where the virus infected cattle, although it noted that bird flu still represents a low risk to the general public.

“While the risk to humans remains low, we are always preparing for any possible scenario that could arise,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.

The U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response will award about $183 million (C$264.2 million) in funding for regional, state and local programs for hospital preparedness and pathogen treatment centers, among others.

The CDC will award about $111 million (C$160.2 million) to help monitor the disease as well as manufacture, store and distribute additional influenza diagnostic test kits for surveillance.

The National Institutes of Health will award about $11 million (C$15.9 million) for additional research into potential medicines for the disease.

The HHS said it, together with the United States Department of Agriculture, are working closely with federal, state, local and industry partners to protect human and animal health as well as food safety.

—Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru

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The CDC said the patient’s sample showed mutations in the hemagglutinin (HA) gene, the part of the virus that plays a key role in it attaching to host cells.

The health body said the risk to the general public from the outbreak has not changed and remains low.

Last week, the United States reported its first severe case of the virus, in a Louisiana resident above the age of 65, who was suffering from severe respiratory illness.

The patient was infected with the D1.1 genotype of the virus that was recently detected in wild birds and poultry in the United States, and not the B3.13 genotype detected in dairy cows, human cases and some poultry in multiple states.

The mutations seen in the patient are rare but have been reported in some cases in other countries and most often during severe infections. One of the mutations was also seen in another severe case from British Columbia, Canada.

No transmission from the patient in Louisiana to other persons has been identified, said the CDC.

—Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru

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The agency said it confirmed the case on Friday.

The CDC said that a sporadic case of severe H5N1 bird flu illness in a person is not unexpected as has previously been experienced in other countries during 2024 and prior years, including in cases that led to death. The agency said its assessment of risk to the public remains low.

CDC said that partial viral genome data from the infected patient shows that the virus belongs to the D1.1 genotype, recently detected in wild birds and poultry in the United States and in recent human cases in British Columbia, Canada, and Washington state.

This genotype of the virus is different from the B3.13 genotype detected in dairy cows, human cases in multiple states, and some poultry outbreaks in the country, CDC said.

There have been a total of 61 human cases of H5 bird flu reported in the United States since April, according to the CDC.

The Louisiana case is the first to be linked to backyard, non-commercial poultry, said Demetre Daskalakis, director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, on a call with reporters.

The virus has infected more than 860 dairy herds in 16 states since March and has killed 123 million poultry since the outbreak began in 2022.

There has not been evidence of dairy herds being reinfected once they have cleared the virus, said U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary Eric Deeble on the press call.

The agency has enrolled 13 states in its newly launched national bulk milk bird flu testing plan, representing nearly half of the nation’s milk supply, Deeble said.

–Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru, Leah Douglas in Washington and Tom Polansek in Chicago

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