Sec. Mike Naig says the U.S. government is using what he describes as a three-legged stool approach to address the virus in the dairy and poultry industries.

HealthDay News — A new strain of bird flu, H5N9, has been detected for the first time in the US, raising concerns about how it continues to spread. The strain was discovered at a commercial duck farm in California’s Merced County, and was reported to the World Organization for Animal Health, which maintains a database of animal disease threats.

Both H5N9 and H5N1 were detected at the duck farm in Merced County, according to tests conducted by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory. The event began on November 23, with clinical signs that included increased deaths in the ducks.

A prophylactic antibody-based immune therapy protects monkeys against severe disease caused by H5N1 avian flu, University of Pittsburgh and NIH Vaccine Research Center researchers report today in Science.

In today’s Health Alert, a new strain of bird flu - H5N9 - has been detected in the U.S. The first confirmed case was found at a commercial duck farm in California.

"This type of prevention can be very useful in controlling infection outbreaks and containing the bird flu pandemic," said an immunologist.

A new strain of bird flu, H5N9, has been detected for the first time in the United States, raising concerns about how it continues to spread. The strain was discovered at a commercial duck farm in California's Merced County,

Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N9 has been identified in U.S. poultry for the first time, after outbreak at a commercial duck farm in California.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 67 people in the U.S. have been infected with H5N1 bird flu. One person has died.

This is the fifth instance of HPAI impacting a domestic flock in Vermont since spring of 2022 and emphasizes the ongoing need for vigilance as the disease continues to be an ongoing risk to domestic birds. This case comes on the heels of another HPAI confirmation in a flock of backyard birds in Franklin County this past December.

A new strain of H5N9 bird flu was detected at a commercial duck operation in California's Merced County. All the ducks were euthanized.