--- title: Solutions to Bird Flu Hatched date: 2025-05-14T10:00:00-04:00 author: University of Maryland canonical_url: "https://terp.umd.edu/solutions-to-bird-flu-hatched" section: Articles --- # Solutions to Bird Flu Hatched *May 14, 2025* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/authors/karen-shih-09) - *Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle* > On the farm and in the lab, researchers are fighting a virus that’s pushing up food prices and threatening a new pandemic *cracked eggshell with dark background* **THAT CHILL IN THE EGG AISLE** isn’t just refrigeration. Grocery runs these days can feel a bit Soviet, with signs announcing carton rationing and apologizing for low stock. Even Waffle House—known for holding the line on prices—added a 50-cent surcharge to egg dishes. The once-affordable source of protein has become scarce for one reason: the latest strain of avian influenza, H5N1, a highly contagious and fatal virus. [Over 168 million birds](https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/commercial-backyard-flocks) have either died of the virus or been culled over the last three years. Most of those were egg-laying hens, which drove the average price of eggs up more than 60% by the end of 2024, with the [U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) predicting a 50% spike in 2025](https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-price-outlook/summary-findings). The disease is spreading rapidly through wild birds, decimating waterfowl and even killing our national bird, the bald eagle. Alarmingly, it’s jumped to mammals as well. Cats are particularly susceptible, including pets, wildlife and zoo animals like lions and tigers; dairy cattle are a new host, putting at risk another grocery staple, milk. And as of April, 70 people have been infected after contact with diseased animals and one has died, fueling worries about human-to-human spread and a possible next pandemic. But long before most of us had heard of bird flu, University of Maryland researchers were already working to better understand it and curb its spread. Extension specialists are developing and disseminating the best biosecurity guidance to keep farms secure. Epidemiologists are tracking the virus’ path into and across the country. Lab researchers are using novel methods to understand the origins of avian influenza itself. “We have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” says [veterinary medicine](https://vetmed.umd.edu/home/) Assistant Professor Mostafa Ghanem. “We have to do our best to contain it outside of humans as much as we can. No one can predict how (bird flu) will evolve.” Researchers have tracked “low-pathogenic” strains that produced mild symptoms like weight loss or lower egg production. In the 1990s, however, the far more dangerous H5N1 emerged in China and spread among wild birds, before conquering other nations in Asia and moving west. (In 2015, a related H5N2 strain reached the U.S.; farmers were able to eradicate it the next year by culling more than 50 million birds at a cost of $1.6 billion.) Then the H5N1 strain evolved and reemerged in 2021 to affect more wild birds, including raptors like owls and scavengers such as black vultures. It has since spilled over into domestic poultry as infected birds stop at a farm or surrounding areas, leaving virus particles in saliva, nasal secretions or feces. Outbreaks are most common during fall and winter migrations. Now the virus persists year-round, says Associate Professor Jennifer Mullinax of the [Department of Environmental Science and Technology](https://enst.umd.edu/home/). “We’re not seeing the drop-off we expect. The normal pattern is changing.” *chickens — Backyard chickens in Ridgely, Md.* **OUT WHERE MARYLAND’S EASTERN SHORE** shrinks to a narrow strip, sandwiched between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, sits Farhan Nasir’s poultry farm. He rises every day at 5 a.m. to check his 18 chicken houses in Pocomoke City, where he’s raised about 1.25 million broilers—meat chickens—each year for Perdue Farms for more than a decade. When bird flu reemerged with a vengeance this winter, striking eight farms on the Delmarva peninsula in January, he and his fellow farmers were terrified. Nearly half of Maryland’s agriculture production comes from chickens, and on the Eastern Shore, it rises to about 75%. “There’s a general sense of doom around,” says Nasir. “It’s very stressful psychologically and financially for the community.” *footbath on farm* *UMD Extension poultry specialist and Principal Agent Jonathan Moyle regularly educates farmers on biosecurity measures.* > The virus itself is constantly changing. ... It’s a wickedly complicated system. — —Jennifer Mullinax, *Associate professor of environmental science and technology* **WHAT’S COMING, UNFORTUNATELY,** could bring economic and health consequences far broader in scope than just wild birds and chicken farms. In March 2024, H5N1 was detected in dairy cattle in the U.S.—the first infection in cows anywhere. Cattle respond differently; rather than exhibit respiratory symptoms, they had reductions in milk production and mild fever, so farmers initially didn’t think to check for avian flu or take steps to stop it. The disease has since spread to cattle in 16 states. *cow and cat in barnyard — Two mammal species susceptible to avian influenza meet in a barnyard—a setting where cows have recently passed the virus to humans.* *researcher looks into microscope — Animal and avian science Assistant Professor Andrew Broadbent examines poultry gut “organoids” under a microscope.* *Researcher prepares tranquilizer — Associate Professor of environmental science and technology Jennifer Mullinax prepares tranquilizer to study the possible spread of avian influenza to deer and bears.* **YOU’RE PROBABLY NOT THINKING** about ducks when you’re on day three of the flu, shivering under your sheets and surrounded by a pile of used tissues. But it’s deep in their guts (or the bowels of fellow waterfowl) that all flu viruses originate. Human seasonal flu—which likely jumped from birds to humans many years ago—is even part of the same family, influenza A, as bird flu. To better understand how new influenza viruses develop, [avian and animal science](https://ansc.umd.edu/home/) Assistant Professors Andrew Broadbent and Younggeon Jin, and [cell biology and molecular genetics](https://cbmg.umd.edu/) Associate Professor Margaret Scull, [supported by a UMD Grand Challenges Grant](https://research.umd.edu/aiv), are using “organoids”—lab-created stand-ins for intestines and tracheas cultured from tissues of chickens, turkeys and ducks—a more humane option than infecting live birds. “We’re trying to understand: How are new strains of avian influenza made? Is it more likely to happen in duck hosts or chicken hosts? Which cells is it happening in?” says Broadbent. As they infect the organoids with various strains of avian influenza, they’ll compare how the viruses interact with different types of cells, including how they break through the body’s natural protective barriers, and evolve within different bird species (and they hope to create organoids from other duck breeds and other wild bird species like gulls in the future). Eventually they’ll be able to determine which virus mutations make certain fowl more susceptible, which could help field researchers determine the strains most likely to jump from wild birds into different types of poultry. Their work to date has focused on low-pathogenic strains, though they plan to move into high-pathogenic strains in the future. Their findings will have long-term implications, because avian influenza is here to stay. There’s no way to eradicate it from waterfowl, so even if this deadly strain is stopped, others will pop up again, whether next year or next decade. > We’re trying to understand: How are new strains of avian influenza made? — —Andrew Broadbent, *Assistant professor of avian and animal science* But there’s good news: Scientists already know a lot more about influenza than about coronavirus. The USDA also has [conditionally approved a vaccine for poultry](https://www.science.org/content/article/u-s-conditionally-approves-vaccine-protect-poultry-avian-flu), though it is not currently used because of poultry export agreements (some threatened wild species, like condors, have been immunized, however). Now, Broadbent is partnering with School of Medicine Assistant Professor Lynda Coughlan through a University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State grant to test a new H5N1 vaccine in chickens this spring. “This situation is very different from COVID, where we had to start from scratch,” he says, noting that vaccines exist for humans as well, though they haven’t been deployed because bird flu is still rare in people. In addition, “H5N1 is sensitive to antiviral (treatments), which we didn’t have against coronavirus.” As of April, there are still no cases of human-to-human transmission, and the CDC considers the public health risk low. So while you might have to work in some egg substitutes and keep Mittens from slipping outside, it’s OK to keep living your life, UMD researchers say. “We don’t need to go into panic mode,” says Mullinax. “The people at risk are the ones working in the industries every day. But we should be aware of what’s happening, because we will likely have to deal with this long-term.” **Sidebar note:** **WHAT YOU CAN DO** **Food** • Buy only pasteurized milk. Avoid the raw product. • Cook poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. **Pets** **•** Keep cats indoors so they don’t come in contact with wild birds. • Don’t feed your cats raw pet food. • Call a vet immediately if your pet has respiratory or rabies-like symptoms, and request that they be screened for avian influenza. **Wildlife** • Avoid dead animals and droppings. • If you see a dead or sick bird, call the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Services hotline. **Issue:** [Spring 2025](https://terp.umd.edu/editions/spring-2025) **Types:** [Features](https://terp.umd.edu/category/features)