The avian flu has recently been spreading across America, causing countless birds to die and creating egg shortages affecting many people in the US. This is eliciting concern from people that it could mutate and spread to people.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency on Dec. 18 about avian flu spreading throughout California, killing many birds. In 2024, there were almost 40 million egg-laying birds that have died across 12 states. It is unlikely that people are at risk of avian flu, there have been 66 cases of bird flu in humans in the U.S. since 2024, all of them very mild, but with one death. This is because, according to Stanford Professor of Medicine Dean Winslow, the avian flu does not naturally spread to humans.
“One of the key concepts you should know is the fact that all flu really is bird flu,” Winslow said. “Birds are the predominant hosts, and cattle, pigs and humans are incidental hosts.”
However, Winslow said the concern is that with the rapid spread of avian flu, there is a possibility that the virus could mutate due to the large amounts of replication to be able to spread to and infect humans.
“[Birds] are the natural hosts for this infection, so we’ve seen numbers of outbreaks of bird flu,” Winslow said. “What we’re hoping is that this particular strain of bird flu does not develop additional mutations that would allow it to easily replicate or be transmitted, from one human to another, and so far, we have not seen [human to human transmission,] but we really need to keep our guard up.”
By staying aware and informed, Woodside students have heard of the avian flu and have seen effects in local settings, especially things like egg shortages in grocery stores, as sophomore Kyle Estrada said.
“I’ve heard of the [avian flu], that it kills whole flocks of chickens in the farm, really quickly,” Estrada said. “That makes it so the farmers can’t produce their eggs, my local egg man from the farmer’s market [said].”
Other Woodside students think that the effects of the avian flu surge the U.S. is experiencing have not fully reached them, and are not as significant.
“I don’t buy eggs a lot, I don’t eat them a lot, but I do like eggs, I haven’t noticed anything like [shortages],” sophomore Nicola Miauton said. “[People should] be careful, don’t be coughed on and be cautious [not to get sick].”
Despite some people not being affected much by the avian flu, there have been 1,400 outbreaks of bird flu across the country, affecting up to 135 million birds, creating vast egg shortages that many Woodside students and people in the community have felt.
“I really like eggs, and I can’t have as many eggs, as eggs [are] my protein, that I can get in the morning,” Estrada said. “[Bird flu] makes it harder to get the best eggs, the supply is getting lower, especially for rare eggs.”
Overall, Winslow said that people have to remember why these egg shortages are taking place, and make sure to stay safe by taking precautions to not get sick.
“One of the reasons that eggs cost $1 a piece right now is because so many flocks of birds have been affected, [they] either actually died or had to be euthanized,” Winslow said. “People [should] understand that we’re just dealing with biology at this point, but another thing I’d recommend is that everybody get immunized against the flu, COVID-19, and if they’re over 50, also with the RSV vaccine.”
