H5N9 on California duck farm

Highly pathogenic H5N9 avian flu has been identified for the first time in US poultry, on a duck meat farm in Merced County, California.1 H5N9 is rare, a reassortant combination of H5N1, H7N9, and H9N2. I don’t know to what degree it can/does infect humans—but it certainly kills birds, even ducks (which are not normally killed in high numbers by H5N1—which is why they’re so good at spreading it).

This is not good news. I don’t know how bad it is, but it’s not good. Now we just have to hope there aren’t infected ducks landing next to pig sties…

Eurasian lineage goose/Guangdong clade 2.3.4.4b ︎