Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5 Viruses Found in U.S.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspective Service (APHIS) recently announced the first detections of Asian highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 viruses in wild birds in the United States since 2016. The most recent human infection with HPAI A(H5N1) was reported in the United Kingdom in January 2022 in association with exposure to domestically kept infected birds. No human infections associated with HPAI A(H5N1) viruses have ever been identified in the United States to date. While CDC considers the current risk to the general public from these HPAI A(H5N1) detections in wild birds to be low, it is important to remember that risk depends on exposure, and people with more exposure may have a greater risk of infection.