As wildfires continue smoldering in Los Angeles, looming over the horizon is another worrying development — the growing spread of bird flu.

This strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) — first detected in the United States in February 2022 — has swept through poultry and dairy farms across the country and has jumped over to infecting humans as well. In December, the first fatal human case of the H5N1 virus was reported in Louisiana. According to latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control, so far there have been 67 human cases of bird flu nationwide since 2024, 38 of which occurred in California, the most out of any state.

Yesterday, the CDC confirmed that a San Francisco child was the second child in the Bay Area, and the country, to contract the virus.

So how serious is the situation? How worried should we be? What should we be doing to safeguard ourselves and animals? To answer these questions, Earth Island Journal editor-in-chief and Terra Verde cohost Maureen Nandini Mitra talks with the two experts, Dr. Maurice Pitesky from the University of California, Davis’ School for Veterinary Medicine, and Dr. William Schaffner of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

Note: Here is an interactive map from UC Davis School for Veterinary Medicine that shows the entire outbreak in the Americas.

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