--- title: What Are the Symptoms of Bird Flu? description: Bird flu has sickened 55 people in the U.S. this year. Here's what to know about the symptoms of H5N1 avian influenza, or bird flu. canonical: https://time.com/7198616/bird-flu-symptoms-h5n1-conjunctivitis/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-11-26T20:20:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:48:49.465Z article:section: Health og:title: What Are the Symptoms of Bird Flu? og:description: The virus has sickened 55 people in the U.S. og:url: https://time.com/7198616/bird-flu-symptoms-h5n1-conjunctivitis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4e5bbe8d5d4c611/698b245a457a52d222d71daf/bird-flu_801e62.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2121 og:image:height: 1193 og:image:alt: White chicken amidst feeders in production factory og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Are the Symptoms of Bird Flu? twitter:description: The virus has sickened 55 people in the U.S. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4e5bbe8d5d4c611/698b245a457a52d222d71daf/bird-flu_801e62.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Are the Symptoms of Bird Flu? > Sponsored content. 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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=c3c91d2a-8330-47fb-a2b9-f0a65c42e9e1&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Bird Flu: What's At Risk For You [Watch (HLS stream): Bird Flu: What's At Risk For You](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/h7ByYR2R.m3u8) (4:43)  _Published 2025-01-16. You’ve probably been hearing a lot about bird flu in the news lately. So, what is it? Do you need to worry, and can you protect yourself? TIME Senior Correspondent Alice Park explains this latest outbreak of bird flu - also called H5N1 Avian Influenza - after officials reported the first death from virus in the U.S._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Nov 26, 2024 8:20 PM UTC You’ve probably been hearing a lot about bird flu in the news lately. So, what is it? Do you need to worry, and can you protect yourself? TIME Senior Correspondent Alice Park explains this latest outbreak of bird flu - also called H5N1 Avian Influenza - after officials reported the first death from virus in the U.S.  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Nov 26, 2024 8:20 PM UTC It's the season for sniffles and sore throats, which means that scientists are monitoring the usual suspects like influenza, RSV, and COVID-19\. But they’re also watching another virus this winter: H5N1 avian influenza, or bird flu. U.S. health agencies say that the virus currently poses a low risk to the general public, even though it is spreading widely among chickens, cows, and other animals. There have been 55 confirmed human cases in the U.S., according to the latest [statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html) (CDC), and all but two of those people had been exposed to sick poultry or cattle. There is currently no evidence that the people who have gotten sick have infected other people, according to the CDC. Nonetheless, researchers are tracking the virus in case that situation changes. Recently, a teenager in Canada was hospitalized after being infected with bird flu—and when researchers analyzed the genetic sequence of the virus that sickened the teen, they [reportedly found](https://www.statnews.com/2024/11/18/bird-flu-pandemic-h5n1-virus-mutations-canada-genomic-analysis/) that it had undergone mutations that could allow it to spread more easily among humans. The individual doesn’t seem to have infected anyone else, but the findings underscore the possibility that bird flu could one day become a bigger risk to the general public. Right now, experts say there’s not much for the average person to [worry about](https://time.com/7176238/bird-flu-should-you-worry/). (Just don’t drink raw milk, which [can harbor the virus](https://time.com/6988603/bird-flu-milk-pasteurization/), and don’t touch animals that are dead or appear to be sick.) If you’re curious about the signs and symptoms of bird flu, though, here’s what to know. ## What are the symptoms of bird flu? Many of the people in the U.S. who have caught bird flu [have reported conjunctivitis-like eye issues](https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/spotlights/h5n1-response-11152024.html), including eye redness, discomfort, and discharge. That seems to be because the virus can [target cells in the human eye](https://www.aao.org/education/bird-flu). Farm workers who have been sickened on the job may have also been eye-level with infected animals. Bird flu can also cause respiratory and classic flu-like symptoms, including cough, runny nose, fever, sore throat, body aches, headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, and pneumonia, [the CDC says](https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/virus-transmission/avian-in-humans.html). Some people in the U.S. who have caught bird flu have experienced respiratory symptoms as well. ## How can you tell the difference between bird flu and regular flu? Bird flu and seasonal flu can look similar—but if you develop flu-like symptoms, chances are very good that it’s just the regular flu or another routine winter illness. There is no indication that bird flu is spreading among the general U.S. population, the CDC says. **Read More**: [_What to Do if You Have Sleep Apnea_](https://time.com/7176245/sleep-apnea-treatments-cpap-machine/) Bird flu can be diagnosed by testing samples taken from a sick person’s nose, throat, or eye, but [testing is primarily recommended](https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/php/severe-potential/index.html) for people who have symptoms and have been recently exposed to animals that may be sick. ## Is bird flu serious? The small number of cases reported in the U.S. have so far been mild, with none requiring hospitalization. But bird flu can be serious. The infected teenager in Canada, for example, was hospitalized and in critical condition. People have also died during previous bird flu outbreaks. From January 2003 to November 2024, more than 900 human H5N1 cases were recorded in 24 countries, and about half of them were fatal, [according to World Health Organization statistics](https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/wpro---documents/emergency/surveillance/avian-influenza/ai%5F20241122.pdf?sfvrsn=5f006f99%5F146). But those figures [likely miss people with milder, potentially undetected illnesses](https://undark.org/2024/07/22/avian-flu-actual-mortality-rate/). It is also unclear how deadly the virus would be if it evolved to spread widely from person-to-person, which never happened in these past outbreaks. ## Are bird flu vaccines available? Some companies make [vaccines that can be used against bird flu](https://time.com/6991893/is-there-a-bird-flu-vaccine-h5n1/), and the U.S. government recently [distributed $72 million](https://aspr.hhs.gov/newsroom/Pages/ASPR-Next-Steps-Against-H5-Influenza.aspx) to ensure doses of these vaccines can be made available quickly if necessary. But don’t expect to find bird flu vaccines at your local pharmacy; they’re not available to the public right now. Instead, focus on [getting your regular flu shot](https://time.com/7024386/when-to-get-flu-shot-2024/) if you haven’t already. It won’t work against bird flu, but it can help protect you against the virus you’re far more likely to encounter this season. ## Transcript You've probably been hearing a lot about bird flu in the news lately. New cases of the bird flu are raising alarms among health officials America's first severe human case of h5n1 bird flu. So what is it? Do you need to worry and can you protect yourself? Bird flu is also called h5n1 Avian Influenza. This recent outbreak began in 2024, and what has experts concerned is that it's not only infected millions of birds, but the virus has also spread to dairy cattle and other mammals, including goats, foxes, and house cats. And increasingly, it's been diagnosed in humans. A US man over age 65 with other health conditions became the first to die with h5n1 infection in early 2025. Breaking tonight the nation's first human death from the bird flu just reported. Down from Louisiana here. The Department of Health There. Listen to this. The first person has died from bird flu. Genetic analysis of the virus from that man suggests that h5n1 mutated in his body after he became infected. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said these mutations are concerning, but not a cause for alarm. Yet, symptoms of h5n1 infection can resemble those of more common illnesses. Many of the people in the US who have caught bird flu are farm workers who have come into direct contact with infected cattle or poultry. They have developed relatively mild symptoms, including conjunctivitis like eye issues, eye redness, and discharge from the eyes. Dairy workers who milk infected cows are especially at risk, since the virus can enter their eyes from milk that sprays into their face. Bird flu can also cause respiratory and classic flu like symptoms, including cough, runny nose, fever, sore throat, body aches, headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, and even pneumonia, the CDC says. As bird flu continues to spread, work on a vaccine is underway to protect the public in the event of a pandemic. Several companies, including Maderna, Pfizer, and Glaxo Smith Kline, which is working with Kvak are developing an MRNA vaccine, using the same technology that was used in the COVID 19 shots. In July, the US government awarded Maderna $176 million to develop its updated MRNA h5n vaccine. All of these MRNA vaccine candidates are in early stages of testing in people for safety and efficacy. In 2024, scientists led by a team at the CDC reported that an MRNA based h5n1 vaccine helped ferrets generate strong antibody responses against the virus. Vaccinated animals survived a lethal dose of the virus while unvaccinated ferrets died from their infection. While creating an MRNA vaccine can be done quickly, testing the shot in clinical trials will take longer. So in the meantime, several existing vaccines, which don't use MRNA technology, but do target previous strains of h5n1 exist in the national stockpile. Health experts expect they would still provide some protection against severe disease. Because the virus is spreading among poultry and dairy cattle, the outbreaks are leading to egg rationing and shortages and have led to higher prices. While milk prices are not expected to go up, the US FDA now tests for the virus in commercial milk and other dairy products on a regular basis. The agency also advises staying away from raw milk, which is not pasteurized, a process that can kill the virus. Some experts believe dairy workers and others who have close contact with animals likely to be infected, such as poultry and cattle, should be vaccinated to protect them from infection. The CDC says that the risk of bird flu is still low for the general public. And currently there are no recommendations for anyone in the US to get vaccinated against h5n1. As with all viruses, experts caution that everyone wash their hands carefully, avoid touching their face, and wear a mask if they may come in contact with infected animals. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7198616/bird-flu-symptoms-h5n1-conjunctivitis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7198616/bird-flu-symptoms-h5n1-conjunctivitis/"},"headline":"What Are the Symptoms of Bird Flu?","datePublished":"2024-11-26T20:20:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:48:49.465Z","description":"The virus has sickened 55 people in the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/7198616/bird-flu-symptoms-h5n1-conjunctivitis/","keywords":["Bird Flu","healthscienceclimate","feat-audio"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4e5bbe8d5d4c611/698b245a457a52d222d71daf/bird-flu_801e62.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4e5bbe8d5d4c611/698b245a457a52d222d71daf/bird-flu_801e62.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"White chicken amidst feeders in production factory","caption":"White chicken amidst feeders in production factory","creditText":"Westend61—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/bird-flu/","name":"Bird Flu"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7198616/bird-flu-symptoms-h5n1-conjunctivitis/","name":"What Are the Symptoms of Bird Flu?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Bird Flu: What's At Risk For You","description":"You’ve probably been hearing a lot about bird flu in the news lately. 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