03/01/23 No Signs of Stopping; An Update on the Bird Flu

Showing no signs of slowing down, the bird flu, this strain known as H5N1, has now spread to new corners of the globe. The virus continues to devastate global bird populations and has spilled over into a variety of mammals, including sea lions, mink, and bears. It’s proving to be a year-round threat as neither the sweltering summer heat nor the bitter cold of winter has been able to slow its spread through North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. With no relief in sight, concern over the world’s food supply continues to grow.   In recent weeks both Argentina and Uruguay confirmed their first cases of bird flu, proving the virus is advancing in South America. The number of South American countries reporting their first-ever encounter with the bird flu has risen to ten. Peru is on this list, where more than 50,000 wild birds died last fall, and most recently 600 sea lions. Despite the virus making its way through South America, Brazil, the world’s top chicken exporter, has yet to report a confirmed case.   In October of last year, the H5N1 variant infected a herd of mink at a fur farm in northwest Spain. To…