How Bird Flu Went from an Isolated Avian Illness to a Human Pandemic Threat (Part 1)

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bird flu outbreaks in poultry and cattle have caused concern for public health officials. There have been few reported cases of human transmission, but the growing risks of H5N1 avian influenza have virologists on alert. Researchers at the St. Jude Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response take an annual visit to Delaware Bay to collect samples of bird poop for analysis. These samples give the researchers a look at emerging avian illnesses. While spillover of H5N1 into domestic birds has been known for a while, the first case of spillover into humans was only identified during a 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong. Since then H5N1 has gone global and moved from transmitting from bird to bird to spreading from bird to mammal and from mammal to mammal. Associate health and medicine editor Lauren Young takes a sample collection walk on the beach and speaks with virus detectives about how H5N1 evolved in episode one of our three-part series about bird flu. Join us on Wednesday to learn how bird flu jumped from poultry to cattle. Recommended reading: RFK, Jr., Wants to Let Bird Flu Spread on Poultry Farms. Why Experts Are Concerned https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rfk-jr-wants-to-let-bird-flu-spread-on-poultry-farms-why-experts-are/ Bird Flu Detected in Humans in the U.S.: What We Know So Far https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bird-flu-detected-in-a-person-in-texas-what-we-know-so-far/ E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Lauren Young. This series was reported and produced by Lauren Young, Meghan Bartels, Naeem Amarsy, Fonda Mwangi and Jeff DelViscio. And special thanks to Kimberly Lau and Dean Visser at Scientific American for making it possible and to Michael Sheffield at St. Jude for assistance in the field. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:42.8	For Scientific American Science quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman.
0:58.7	H5N1 Bird Flu has been making a lot of headlines since last year, and for good reason.
1:06.2	Since March 2024, this subtype of bird flu has infected upwards of 1,000 herds of dairy cattle,
1:10.0	reason concerns about the virus's ability to pass between mammals.
1:15.6	This week, science quickly is doing a three-part deep dive to bring you the latest research on bird flu. From visiting dairy farms to touring cutting-edge virology labs, we'll explore what scientists have learned about bird flu and why it poses such a potential risk to humans.
1:25.6	Today's episode brings us back to the start.
1:29.3	The wild flocks where new strains of bird flu evolve and spread. Our host is Lauren Young,
1:35.2	Associate Editor for Health and Medicine at Scientific American.
1:41.5	There's so many rednoughts, it's unbelievable.
1:45.7	Out on Norbury's landing, a small strip of sandy beach at the southern tip of New Jersey on the Delaware Bay,
1:52.1	Pamela McKenzie peers through her binoculars at a massive flock of shorebirds.
1:56.4	You'll need to move.
1:57.0	Small brown ones, right?
1:58.4	Well, you'll see, it's like a sea of red bellies.
2:00.9	Ah, yes, yes, yes, yes, I see. A flurry of different migratory birds, including red knots,
	...

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