Lisa Jarvis, Columnist

Bird Flu Should Make Us Worried — But Not Panicked

There’s a non-zero chance the 2024 avian influenza will grow into a problem. Are the government agencies protecting our food and health prepared?

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Photographer: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
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The bird flu keeps catching the world off guard by finding new ways to spread — this time finding an unexpected host in cows.

As of April 4, the virus had been confirmed in more than a dozen herds across six states, with Kansas, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas all reporting infected cows. An infected dairy farm worker in Texas is just the second person in the US to have ever contracted bird flu.