The CDC has confirmed 34 human bird flu cases in 2024, but the total number remains elusive as health departments struggle to track the outbreak, KFF Health News reported Oct. 25.
There are several hints of underreported bird flu infections, according to hundreds of state and local health department emails obtained by the outlet.
Several bird and poultry workers are refusing to be monitored and some farm owners do not want health departments to visit and/or record their names or locations. In Michigan, health officials said in emails that cats might have acquired the virus, but testing was not achieved to answer this hypothesis.
Severe understaffing in health departments is also contributing to the surveillance problem, according to the outlet. And amid the 2024-2025 respiratory virus season, a person could simultaneously contract bird flu and influenza, and the two viruses create a hybrid.
"We need to take steps today to prevent the worst-case scenario," Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, director of the Pandemic Center at Providence, R.I.-based Brown University, told KFF Health News.