Bird Flu already seriously picking up steam in Europe; Starting to see signs in USA.

Great Blu Heron. Barr Lake State Park. Brighton, Colorado. October 25, 2025. A ranger related that at least on that date there have been no signs of bird flu

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Don’t count on eggs being low priced for very long!”

“However, this time around, we have less insight than before, thanks to staffing cuts at federal labs, rule changes that restrict who government scientists can communicate with and the ongoing federal government shutdown.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told HuffPost the CDC deactivated its H5N1 emergency bird flu response on July 2, 2025.”

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In the past 30 days, the virus has struck 66 poultry flocks, leading to the deaths of more than 3.5 million turkeys, chickens and ducks, a steep increase compared to the summer months. The virus can spread easily when infected wild birds mix with commercial or backyard flocks

NPR – November 6, 2025

There is a decent Facebook group “BirdFlu H5Ni“. It doesn’t post that often but still it is a good way to monitor the evolution of the virus – and its various mutant forms. Two recent articles posted there raise signs of concern and bodes ill for the virus’ s spread across the Northern Hemisphere. The first cases of bird flu this season have come a month earlier than previous years.

This suggests that serious steps should be taken throughout the northern hemisphere to monitor the condition spread by wild migrating birds, mainly raptors, to domestic poultry, some domesticated mammals (cows) and with a few transfers to humans.

Concerning the USA. WANE 15, a Fort Worth, Indiana media company, posted an article yesterday (November 4, 2025) “Elkhart, LaGrange bird flu outbreak spreads, affecting 4 farms this week”. It notes that 13 farms in Elkhart County have detected, or suspected bird flu among chickens and ducks. It notes that despite the federal government shutdown, that the USDA is still open and tests come back to farmers in four to seven days.

A second article appeared in today’s (November 5, 2025) RTÉ News, an Irish News source. It announced, in the first outbreak of bird flu in a commercial poultry flock in Ireland since 2023, a compulsory housing order for poultry and captive birds amid the heightened risk from avian influenza. So far authorities have verified that 40 domesticated turkeys have come down with the condition.

2.

Concerning the Indiana bird flu outbreak, as reported in a WANE 15 article, cited above, although the virus is still localized to a small geographic area, it is “spreading quickly”. According to the Indiana State Board of Animal Health’s Current HPAI Case List, bird flu has been detected in eight farms, forcing farmers to “depopulate” (which means `kill’) 85,994 egg layer chickens, meat ducks and breeder ducks, and this with the flu season having hardly started.

These first H5F1 infections come shortly after the near completion of the annual fall migration through North America’s Central Flyway that throttles both sides, east and west, of the Mississippi River.  Bird Flu’s main carriers are migrating waterfowl, wild geese and ducks. As the WANE 15 article notes:

The disease is not fatal for wild birds, so bird flu usually spreads through their feces.

“It could be something as simple as bird droppings in the parking lot or driveway at a farm, it could be walked into that facility,” Derrer-Spears said. “Poultry farmers work really hard to keep their space disease-free…even something as simple as turning on the ventilation fans because they need fresh air could pull some of that viral material into the space where the birds are.”

As reported in an earlier blog entry, while the numbers remain small, the first cases of bird flu this season have also been reported in Colorado along the northern Front Range near Loveland, 58 miles due north of Denver.

3.

As concerns the Irish case, a compulsory housing order for poultry and captive birds will come into effect in five days, on November 10. A like measure is expected to be introduced for the UK which will include Northern Ireland. The current outbreak of bird flu in a commercial poultry flock is the first in Ireland since 2023, although the virus has been detected in more than 40 wild birds across the country this year.

It has made Irish poultry farmers nervous, and it is not only there that bird flu outbreaks have been reported. As early as October 22, 2025, more than two weeks ago, RFI (Radio France International) reported that France had raised its bird flu alert to the highest level after a rise in new cases in poultry and backyard flocks were reported, triggering stricter biosecurity rules including the confinement of birds.

This tightening of biosecurity measures came after bird flu, H5N1 outbreaks were reported in five places – two on commercial poultry farms and three in smaller backyard holdings. This is more than a “French concern”.  According to the European health surveillance platform ESA, 37 outbreaks of avian influenza were reported in poultry holdings across the EU between 1 August and 12 October, with additional cases since then – including several in France.

So, it begins again.

Common Mergansers (females with rusty red heads). January 25, 2025. Jim Baker Reservoir. S. Adams County, Colorado. (R. Prince photo)

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Confirmations of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Commercial and Backyard Flocks