Arizona reports first human cases of avian influenza in 2024

Last week, the Arizona Department of Health Services confirmed the state’s first human cases of the bird flu virus. Two people tested positive after working with infected poultry at a Pinal County plant.

Dr. Ryan Wolker, State Veterinarian at the Arizona Department of Agriculture, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss more about this recent case and give his perspective on the response to avian influenza.

“There’s what we call a highly-pathogenic avian influenza viruses, where we see a significant amount of illness, and mortality in the birds,” Wolker said. “…those are the ones that we are concerned about.”

It has been a growing issue across the nation, and an emerging issue within the past month in Arizona. The bird flu, also known as Type A H5N1 avian influenza, was detected for the first time in the U.S. in cows back in 2022.

“It’s behaving a little differently than previous outbreaks,” Wolker said, “…so this one is tending to just kind of smolder on.”

The last signifcant outbreak of highly-pathogenic avian influenza in domestic poultry species was in 2014-15.

The virus has infected 57 people in the U.S. so far this year, however, there have not been any cases of spreading the disease.

“None of the avian influenza viruses that have been detected to date have shown any significant human adaptation,” Wolker said. “…so it’s still considered a low risk to the general public, as per the CDC.”

Dr. Wolker’s team has played a huge role in a quick and efficient response throughout the state, and collaborating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to mitigate spread as much as possible.