California declares state of emergency as H5N1 bird flu threatens pandemic… in chilling echo of Covid dark days
California has declared a state of emergency over bird flu as the disease threatens to become a pandemic.
It comes hours after the CDC revealed a person in Louisiana had been hospitalized with a severe case of bird flu for the first time.
Governor Gavin Newsom made the order today, saying the emergency was to ‘streamline and expedite’ the state’s response to bird flu.
California has recorded just over half of the 61 bird flu cases detected in the US so far, at 33 out of the 61 recorded infections, which were mostly among dairy farm workers.
Wastewater surveillance in the state also now shows that the bird flu virus is being routinely detected.
This is a breaking news story. It is being updated…
California has declared a state of emergency over the emerging bird flu pandemic (stock of workers wearing hazmat suits)
The above map shows bird flu cases by state in the US that have been recorded this year. The cases are among people
The above shows detections of bird flu in wastewater. There is a cluster of detections in the California area
