With bird flu taking over internet forums and news articles being released every day, it can be difficult to find trustworthy and reliable sources. Medical misinformation regarding bird flu has been spreading rapidly online, panicking the general public. This Comprehensive Guide will cover bird flu using information from top medical sites and journals, allowing you to thoroughly understand what exactly bird flu is, the symptoms and progression, what to do if you’ve been exposed, common misconceptions, the importance of public safety, and how to keep yourself both knowledgeable and safe in a high-school setting.

What is Bird Flu?

Bird flu, also referred to as H5N1, avian influenza, and avian flu, is a type of viral infection from an influenza (flu) virus that primarily affects birds, but can also infect other animals, most notably cows and humans. It primarily spreads through contact with sick birds, and — though extremely rare — can be passed from person to person. Humans can become infected in a variety of ways, but the most common is poorly handling infected birds. Infection happens when droplets and dust particles are inhaled, or when surfaces contaminated with infected material like mucus, saliva, feces, raw milk, bedding, and litter, are touched and make contact with the eyes, nose, or mouth.

What Are Bird Flu Symptoms and Complications?

Symptoms:

The reported bird flu symptoms in humans have varied and can range from none to severe. In the United States, most reported cases have been mild.

According to the CDC and Cleveland Clinic, symptoms of bird flu include:

• Headaches
• Feeling feverish or mild fever (temperature of 100 degrees or greater)
• Eye redness and irritation (conjunctivitis)
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Cough
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches

Less common symptoms include:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

Eye redness and mild respiratory symptoms are the most predominant among recent U.S. cases. In severe cases, symptoms can either worsen or new symptoms will develop. Seek medical attention immediately if the symptoms listed below develop.

• High fever
• Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
• Difficulty breathing
• Altered consciousness
• Seizure

Complications:

In severe cases, complications can occur. These include:

• Pneumonia
• Respiratory failure
• Acute respiratory distress syndrome
• Acute kidney injury
• Multi-organ failure (respiratory and kidney failure)
• Sepsis – septic shock
• Inflammation in the brain (meningoencephalitis)
• Death

How is Bird Flu Diagnosed?

Bird flu can only be officially diagnosed through laboratory testing because people cannot be diagnosed by clinical signs and symptoms alone. If you are concerned you have bird flu, inform your healthcare provider and let them know if you’ve been in contact with birds, cows, or other animals that you believe are infected. 

Bird flu is often tested by collecting a swab from the upper respiratory tract (nose or throat). Testing is most effective during the first few days of illness. For severely ill patients, lower respiratory tract specimens (bronchi or lungs) must also be collected and tested to get a proper diagnosis. However, it may be difficult to detect bird flu in patients who no longer show physical symptoms or have fully recovered.

What is the Infection Timing and Treatment?

According to the CDC, the time that a person is exposed and infected with bird flu and develops respiratory symptoms is around three days, but can range between two to seven days. Eye redness can develop between one to two days after exposure and infection. 

The contagious period is not fully understood yet. A person with mild illness is thought to progress similar to the seasonal flu and is most contagious during the first few days of infection. People who are hospitalized with a severe illness may be contagious for much longer, around several weeks.

Bird flu usually lasts between a few days to less than two weeks. However, people who are severely ill and require hospitalization may be sick for several weeks. 

Bird flu can be treated with antiviral medications if the infection is caught early, however, there is no specific cure or vaccine available. Recent studies have shown that supportive care such as oxygen therapy and intravenous fluids can help patients recover quicker.

Who is at Risk?

People who work directly with dairy cows, poultry, waterfowl, and shorebirds such as ducks, swans, geese, chickens, turkeys, and storks are at the highest risk of bird flu.

How Can I Prevent Bird Flu?

According to the Cleveland Clinic, you can prevent exposure and infection in a variety of ways:

• Wear protective clothing 

When working with animals, especially birds, wear protective clothing like gloves, goggles and masks to prevent accidentally inhaling droplets and dust particles and touching contaminated surfaces.

• Wash your hands

When handling animals, especially birds, prioritize washing your hands after being in close contact, especially in farms with water features and factories.

• Do not work with animals that are sick or have been exposed to avian influenza

In case of an outbreak, follow public health guidelines to limit the spread of bird flu. If you know of a place where bird flu is prevalent, avoid it.

• Take your shoes off before entering your home if you’ve been in areas with birds

Taking off your shoes before entering your home reduces the risk of spreading contaminated material (dirt, dust, etc.) around your house.

• Do not consume unpasteurized milk.

Unpasteurized milk is not heat-treated before packaging. This means pathogens and bacteria, including bird flu, are not killed during the pasteurization process.

What Do I Do If I Was Exposed to an Infected Bird?

If you were exposed to or made close contact with an infected animal or contaminated surface, contact your state and local health department immediately as they will help monitor your health and symptom development. Monitor your symptoms and keep track of their development each day — hour if possible. If you were exposed and infected with bird flu while responding to a bird flu outbreak, your state and local health department should contact you. If not, follow the directions above and continue to monitor and track your symptoms.

Common Misconceptions About Bird Flu:

• Bird flu is extremely contagious among humans.

This claim is false. Though bird flu can be transmitted between humans, it is extremely rare. According to the CDC, since April 2024, there have been 70 confirmed cases in the U.S. and the current public health risk is low. The majority of reported bird flu cases were caused by close contact with infected animals or contaminated surfaces. So while person-to-person transmission is possible, it is not common.

• You can get infected by drinking milk.

While this claim is true, it is extremely misleading. Drinking raw, unpasteurized milk can cause infection because it does not undergo pasteurization, the heating process that kills pathogens, viruses, and bacteria, including bird flu. Drinking or accidentally inhaling raw milk infected with bird flu may cause illness, and it should be avoided.

• Eating eggs and poultry will give you bird flu.

This claim is false. You cannot get infected by eating eggs or poultry unless the eggs and poultry were infected and then poorly handled after. Poor preparation is a result of failing to follow food safety guidelines (cooked food contacting contaminated surfaces, undercooked, etc.) Properly handling and cooking eggs and poultry is necessary to protect yourself and others from viruses and bacteria, including bird flu.

How Do I Handle Food Safely?

Due to the media vilifying eggs and poultry, many people no longer feel confident in their abilities to properly handle and cook them. Fortunately, the USDA has provided information covering the necessary steps to handle food safely.

“Cooking poultry, eggs, and other poultry products to the proper temperature and preventing cross-contamination between raw and cooked food is the key to safety. You should: 

• Wash hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw poultry and eggs; 
• Prevent cross-contamination by keeping raw poultry and eggs away from other foods;
• After cutting raw meat, wash [the] cutting board, knife, and countertops with hot, soapy water; 
• Sanitize cutting boards by using a solution of 1 tablespoon of chlorine bleach in 1 gallon of water;
• Use a food thermometer to ensure poultry has reached the safe internal temperature of at least 165 °F to kill food-borne germs that might be present, including the avian influenza viruses.”

While these guidelines refer to many food-borne illnesses such as salmonella and E. coli, they also apply to bird flu. These guidelines should be followed at all times when handling food. 

The Importance of Public Health Safety

Public health safety is the most important thing when dealing with a public health scare. Public health safety protects the well-being of our community by preventing the spread of the virus, promoting healthy habits like good hygiene, and ensuring people are aware of the symptoms and risks. Every effort to address public health issues, improve sanitation, and ensure the general public is knowledgeable about bird flu is crucial in keeping our community safe. In times of crises, such as emergencies and pandemics, effective public health safety minimizes the negative impact on those vulnerable to infection and illness.

How Do I Stay Safe in School?

Being at school can be daunting, especially since it’s a high-traffic area with hundreds of people, but there are ways to keep yourself and others safe. By staying informed of health news and developments, you’re actively helping your high school become a safer place. Another priority is practicing good hygiene, washing your hands often and using alcohol-based sanitizers when soap and water are not immediately available. Though the risk of infection is low, it is not zero, so remain cautious when handling food and objects. By keeping yourself safe, you’re actively protecting others too.