How Does Bird Flu Affect People

7 March, 2025 – CAPE COD – Unprecedented among wild birds, but Massachusetts' domestic birds and cattle have been relatively spared from infections. There have been several hospitalizations following the spread of the avian flu, however, the number of infected people in the U.S. is very low and zero in Massachusetts. State Epidemiologist updates us on what to consider.

Massachusetts has been relatively spared from the bird flu virus, though it’s still wide spread in wild water birds along our shores, and state authorities are preparing for potential mutations and spillovers. Dr. Catherine Brown, State Epidemiologist at Massachusetts Department of Public Health, says testing people for the current strain is daily routine.

"While this continues to really be a bird disease and not really a human disease (...) we also have to be prepared," says Dr. Brown. "And so we've been doing surveillance through our routine flu surveillance that we do. We're  looking for people who have H5 infections. We have not identified any."

A total of 70 human cases since last year in the U.S. and zero cases in Massachusetts makes the avian flu a low risk virus for the public. The vast majority of those infected contracted the virus through close contact with domestic poultry or dairy cattle.

"I don't want people to be so nervous that they feel like they can't go outside as the weather gets warmer and go watch wildlife? We're not at that point," says Dr. Brown.

In most cases the symptoms are very mild, but some people have been hospitalized and one person died in January this year.

"It becomes a, a pulmonary, a lung infection and may even turn into pneumonia. That's really contrasted with what we have seen with the relatively kind of mild cases where they have had
sometimes almost no symptoms," says Dr. Brown.

The most common symptom is conjunctivitis, red and swollen eyes. The virus spreads through bodily fluids. What if you walk your dog through an area where there have been infected birds, and you or your dog accidentally step in bird dropping?

"This is the thing everybody's worried about and is one of the things I would like people to try
to just relax about," says Dr. Brown. "Nobody has seemed to have gotten avian flu just from being outside in the same place that ducks and geese were. That really does not seem to pose a risk."

Dr. Brown believes the likely reason would be that there is not enough virus in those environments to infect people and dogs walking through. Cats however should be kept indoors, as they are prone to become very ill once infected with avian flu.

Based on how avian flu historically has behaved, authorities expect positive cases to start declining over the next few months as the weather starts warming up.

"I think what is keeping us a little bit optimistic is that avian flu viruses, just like human flu viruses tend to be more active in the winter," Dr. Brown says. They do better in that type of weather."

So, report sightings of sick or dead birds and keep enjoying the natural beauty Cape Cod has to offer.