Attention veterinarians and cat owners! Today we published a One Health paper on an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu among 4 house cats in Tulare, the epicenter of the California dairy cattle outbreaks. sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Bird flu can be deadly in house #cats - now a UMD study in One Health journal shows how they can survive it 🐈‍⬛ 🐈 “Our study shows cats can survive bird flu if they receive early care and antiviral treatment," says SPH professor @drkristenkc.bsky.social #birdflu sph.umd.edu/news/bird-fl...

Photo from my collection - the seller said it was from 1964. It has not been filtered or modified by me - whether by accident or on purpose it was overexposed to wonderful effect.

What can be done to eliminate this biosecurity vulnerability in the US? @fda.gov @usdafoodsafety.bsky.social www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influe...

Need for improved One Health surveillance; accelerated implementation of new indoor air engineering standards; continued investment in animal and human vaccines, + improved public health communication that address health disinformation 👉 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Opinion piece: Three things we can do now to reduce the risk of #AvianFlu spillovers. In PNAS Front Matter: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #BirdFlu #AvianInfluenza #HPAI #Covid19 #pandemic #SARSCOV2 #PandemicPreparedness

The bird flu virus that has beset dairy farms since early last year may be spreading through the air in so-called milking parlors and through contaminated wastewater (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/h...

Tiny cleaned up a record 22 plastic water bottles littered around the local track Sunday morning. She loves doing it but people should not be littering like this! What is going on?

Avian Flu Diary commented on our preprint describing H5N1 environmental contamination in air, cow's exhaled breath, wastewater, milking equipment at dairy farms, led by Seema Lakdawala. afludiary.blogspot.com/2025/08/prep...

🚨 New @jama.com review: Gun violence survivors need more than emergency care. 🔹 68% report chronic pain 🔹 50%+ show signs of PTSD 🔹 75% leave hospital with bullet fragments 🔹 10% suffer reinjury UMSOM trauma experts urge better long-term care. 🔗 bit.ly/3UfHPIh #GunViolence #Healthcare #PTSD

#USDA reports another #H5N1 #birdflu infected dairy herd in California, the 771st such detection in the state. The cumulative national total of detected/confirmed herds is 1,078 in 17 states. The true number of infected herds? Who knows? www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-po...

“If these trends are not stopped, science is going to be destroyed." Here's my story on the accelerating growth of systemic research fraud--aka paper mills. Gift link: nyti.ms/45rDirw

See our new commentary published today in PNAS! Gone are the days clean indoor air is an afterthought. It is among the top things we can achieve NOW to reduce the risk of avian influenza and other panzootic disease outbreaks. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Full text now published, open access to all. 🐱

HPAI outbreak in cats in a household in California, near cattle outbreak. Early supportive care + antiviral treatment = cat survival. + high titers of neutralizing antibodies at least 3-4 months post infection. 👉 www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...

Full text now published, open access to all. 🐱

Our review of avian influenza in felines is now published in @ofidjournal.bsky.social! I plan to do a thread highlighting the most important findings when I get the chance. academic.oup.com/ofid/article...

In felids: 607 AIV infections in felines, including 302 associated deaths. Cases across 18 countries and 12 felid species. Most cases since 2022, associated with panzootic. 👉 academic.oup.com/ofid/advance...

Study: Avian Influenza Virus Infections in Felines: A Systematic Review of Two Decades of Literature. academic.oup.com/ofid/article...

Bird Flu Is Now Killing Cats at a 90% Fatality Rate – Experts Warn It Could Jump to Humans. H5N1 is evolving quickly and may lead to a human pandemic, according to a new University of Maryland study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, revealing a surprising new concern.

Dr @donmilton.bsky.social is awarded Distinguished University Professor title, UMD's highest honor, for his work on Covid, flu transmission 🏆 ⚕️ We congratulate this exceptional scientist, pioneering researcher, inspiring teacher and committed advocate for public health good! 👏👏👏 brnw.ch/21wSLUT

#USDA confirmed 10 more #H5N1 #birdflu infected dairy herds in Idaho. The state's tally is now 100 herds. The cumulative national total is 1,063 herds in 17 states. www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-po...

In loving memory of Moshu 🍎

My 4 main tips for the general public regarding #birdflu, which has a very high case fatality rate in cats. If you feed your pet contaminated raw meat or milk, they will likely die. Not exaggerating, just giving it to you straight.

UMD's Dr Kristen Coleman's team wants to “get a better sense of how widespread the virus is and if more intense monitoring is needed. Government funding would be needed to continue these efforts.” Read more here truthdig.com/articles/mut... @truthdig.bsky.social #birdflu

“The virus has evolved and the way it jumps between species...is very concerning." says UMD's @drkristenkc.bsky.social of her major global review of research on birdflu in cats, that calls for urgent surveillance of cats to avoid another human pandemic. Out today brnw.ch/21wStYF #birdflu #pandemic

Avian Influenza Virus Infections in Felines: A Systematic Review of Two Decades of Literature ✅ Just Accepted ✍️ @drkristenkc.bsky.social #IDSky

Are we about to live through another pandemic where we rely on preprints for the fastest updates but withhold action until after peer review? Or are journals going to start paying people to peer review such that they can publish important research when it has the highest impact? #h5n1 #birdflu

Emerging research from multiple institutes supports what we’ve been saying since March. I did not alert the public just because I love cats (although I do, very dearly). The threat of bird flu to felines and humans is very real. www.bovinevetonline.com/news/industr...

H5 in Maryland broilers and snow geese. Avian influenza, or bird flu, “is a highly contagious airborne respiratory virus that spreads easily among birds through nasal and eye secretions, as well as manure,” according to the state agriculture department. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/lo...

A gentle reminder that you should always resist the temptation to tag a creative person into a negative review of their work. It doesn't matter what your intentions are, it's kind of an asshole maneuver. You are free to say whatever you like, of course. Making it their problem, however, is not kind.

No organ is left untouched... Cövid and the liver onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Three tigers and a leopard reported dead from highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in a rescue centre in Nagpur, state of Maharashtra, central India. Advice to other centres and zoos includes not feeding raw poultry or unverified meat products. www.downtoearth.org.in/health/mahar...

Worried about pets contracting bird flu? Scott Simon and I lay it all out for you in this quick @npr.org Weekend Edition interview⬇️⬇️ #h5n1 #birdflu #cats

Dog reunites with owner after a long hospital stay 🥹

My last but not least interview during the holidays. Listen to Richard Webby’s quotes on aerosolization/inhalation exposure to current bird flu at the bird-human interface. Thanks @wstonereports.bsky.social! Wishing all a happy and healthy new year! www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Worried about pets contracting bird flu? Scott Simon and I lay it all out for you in this quick @npr.org Weekend Edition interview⬇️⬇️ #h5n1 #birdflu #cats

Moo Deng and Haggis are joined by another slick, round supreme on the scene. Fans of the new baby can cast their vote to name her until New Year's Eve, with the winning name announced the next day.

10 more dairy herds in California tested positive for #H5N1 #birdflu. CA's total is now 685; cumulative national total is 901 herds in 16 states. I wonder if/when we'll start to see positive herds in other states detected by #USDA's national testing strategy? www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-po...

We’ve updated our systematic review of bird flu infections in felines since first uploaded in May. We calculate a case fatality rate of 89.6% for domestic cats infected with H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Twenty big cats, including a half-Bengal tiger and four cougars, died at a sanctuary in Washington State after becoming infected with bird flu, according to the facility’s director. “We’ve never had anything like it.”

Twenty big cats die of bird flu at sanctuary in Washington state

Covid is associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... (one of many reports) But the mechanism is unclear. A new report suggests islet microvascular dysfunction is a contributing factor diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/art... open-access

My 4 main tips for the general public regarding #birdflu, which has a very high case fatality rate in cats. If you feed your pet contaminated raw meat or milk, they will likely die. Not exaggerating, just giving it to you straight.

⚠️ BREAKING: Santa Barbara reported two cats from different households infected with H5N1 bird flu, according to the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. The cats developed severe neurological illness and died. Sources of infection are still under investigation.