A Texas dairy herd first reported in March that cattle had tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Since then, the H5N1 version of the virus has spread to 299 dairy herds in 14 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has also reported more than 100 million poultry affected in 48 states. Twenty cases, all of them non-fatal, have been reported in humans this year.

“The risk of widespread transmission of avian influenza to humans is low,” says Cheryl Bettigole of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Penn Medicine. “But we also know that agricultural workers, who work with cattle and other animals, are at highest risk of infection and that the majority of these workers are immigrants who have high rates of being uninsured.”

Louise Moncla, assistant professor of pathobiology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, notes that while human-to-human transmission of avian influenza has not been documented, there is some concern the virus could eventually evolve to transmit between people.

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