--- title: Avian Influenza: Bird Flu Confirmed in Nebraska Farm, USDA Says description: It is the 16th state with cases since December canonical: https://time.com/3856470/bird-flu-outbreak-nebraska/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-13T00:35:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:06.532Z article:section: Health og:title: Bird-Flu Outbreak Spreads to Nebraska og:description: It is the 16th state with cases since December. og:url: https://time.com/3856470/bird-flu-outbreak-nebraska/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bird-Flu Outbreak Spreads to Nebraska twitter:description: It is the 16th state with cases since December. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Bird-Flu Outbreak Spreads to Nebraska > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=73c9bf2c-ad57-4421-a419-88b8dd09773e&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: This Flu Shot Is Not Like the Others [Watch (HLS stream): This Flu Shot Is Not Like the Others](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1thSi60s.m3u8) (2:09)  _Published 2014-10-30. Some people may get a new flu shot that’s made with dog cells instead of chicken eggs_  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi May 13, 2015 12:35 AM UTC  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi May 13, 2015 12:35 AM UTC An avian-flu outbreak has been confirmed on a commercial poultry farm in Nebraska, the Department of Agriculture [said](http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/aphis/newsroom/news/sa%5Fstakeholder%5Fannouncements/sa%5Fby%5Fdate/sa%5F2015/sa%5F05/ct%5Fhpai%5Fnebraska/!ut/p/a0/04%5FSj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOK9%5FD2MDJ0MjDzdXUyMDTzdPA2cAtz8jT1dTPULsh0VAbiDHEw!/) Tuesday, marking the 16th state to report cases in a flock. The egg-laying farm in Dixon County is home to some 1.7 million chickens, the federal agency said in a statement, and in addition to quarantine measures, the affected chickens will be euthanized. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the risk to humans to be “low” but the infection and spread of the virus can be economically devastating to farms. More than [32 million birds](http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/sa%5Fanimal%5Fdisease%5Finformation/sa%5Favian%5Fhealth/ct%5Favian%5Finfluenza%5Fdisease/!ut/p/a1/lZJNc4IwEIZ%5Fi4ceMSkfAkfwC1Rqp06rcGEWCJApBgeCjP31DWode9Da3Hb32Z33zS4K0AYFDPY0A05LBkUXB4NwtnTkZxvL7nRljrH78jHxjIWuLB1VAL4AhlPLUfUFxlg1ZOyObGekmx7G7uCv%5FjUKUBAzvuM58mGX0zqMS8YJ42FBowqqwxOuISybKkzLuKmPETC6hSLMCRQ8v84ktCZQk5CytKy2RxOn8p4Cu%5FAxPycEVjSEfcFPYydmF9ME-ZFspnggE0kxnkFS40iRQANNkrUkTZI41hVFP5vHN56FHzL%5FC5mObYFMFq%5F6fCbjuXYG7v3vEbijwRci9ZsqTBWt%5Ful69sBNyJU39DIxFnguddtAm7tbOpWvtoQ2d7a0tsXk1m8cqxOTFWUkTnU9vCSFAItFiiEEVCQlFan6eVlztGnbtt%5FUCfSzco922%5FetoRykzzcDK1qRGVIwyaxe7xuJ5hEp/?1dmy&urile=wcm%3apath%3a%2Faphis%5Fcontent%5Flibrary%2Fsa%5Four%5Ffocus%2Fsa%5Fanimal%5Fhealth%2Fsa%5Fanimal%5Fdisease%5Finformation%2Fsa%5Favian%5Fhealth%2Fsa%5Fdetections%5Fby%5Fstates%2Fct%5Fai%5Fpacific%5Fflyway) have been affected by the virus since the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed several cases in December. _Read next:_ [_The New Bird Flu Outbreak: Should You Worry?_](http://time.com/3589257/bird-flu-h5n8-europe/) ### You Asked: Your Top 10 Health Questions Answered  You Asked: Are Cleanses Healthy? Potions that claim to clear your body of toxins might sound alluring, but do they deliver? Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Is Eating Dessert Really That Bad For Me? Bad news for sweet-eaters—except if you end your meals with this kind of treat. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: What’s the Best Way to Whiten My Teeth? Yes, teeth whitening actually works—but here's why you have to dish out major bucks to see results. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Is Meditation Really Worth It? From easing stress to lowering heart disease risk, focusing your mind can do some amazing things for your body. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: What’s the Healthiest Sweetener? Take a taste of the unsettled science of sweeteners. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Should I Go Paleo? The pros and cons of eating like a caveman. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Is Cracking Your Knuckles Bad? Here's what really happens to your joints when you snap, crackle and pop. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Is Running on a Treadmill as Good as Running Outside? You'll fool your body into thinking it's outside with this one small treadmill tweak. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Does Laughing Have Real Health Benefits? Here's proof that everybody could use a belly laugh. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: What Is My Poo Telling Me? If you listen hard enough, you'll hear all kinds of health stories from #2. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] This year, your annual flu shot might be more high tech than the ones you've had before. For decades, flu shots could only be made with the help of hundreds of thousands of chicken eggs. Scientists grew the influenza virus in the chicken eggs. Then purified and modified it to go into the flu vaccine. But that process took months for the virus to grow. In 2012 the U. S. Food and Drug Administration approved an entirely new way of making flu vaccines. Bypassing chicken eggs altogether and using animal cells instead. The Novartis Plant in Holly Springs, North Carolina is the only facility in the U. S.. Approved to produce a cell culture- based flu vaccine known as Flucelvax. This Influenza vaccine is grown using cells from dog kidneys. And the process is much faster. Taking 65 to 75 hours. Compared to the months it took to grow with [ UNKNOWN ] [ MUSIC ] The process begins with growing enough kidney cells to serve as the viruses incubators. Over 20 days the cells are put into a culture that encourages them to divide rapidly. And as the cells grow in number they are moved into increasingly larger vats. They start out in 5 liter. Containers and end up in a 5000 liter tank. Once there, the cells are infected with the flu virus. These samples of virus arrive frozen and are chosen each year by the World Health Organization in the spring. They determine which flu strains they believe will be circulating later that year. Year. After the cells produce enough virus, the viral particles are strained out, purified, and treated so they can't actually cause flu but can still alert the immune system to mount a response against the virus. 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