About Bird Flu (Avian Influenza)
Page originally published 5/1/2024. Last updated 2/21/2025.
People who work with, or are around (e.g., handle or consume), animals infected with bird flu or infected raw milk are at higher risk of getting bird flu. This includes any contact with animal fluids, feces, feathers, or their environments.
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Avoid direct contact with birds, poultry, and other animals that could be infected with bird flu. Wild birds can be infected with bird flu even if they do not look sick.
Only eat/drink pasteurized dairy products. The bird flu virus
can be in raw, unpasteurized milk. Unpasteurized milk may also have
other germs that can make you sick.
Cook poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165F.
Take precautions if you have a backyard flock.
- Keep birds separate from other animals (like pets and livestock).
- Avoid kissing or putting birds near your face.
- Wash your hands before and after contact with your birds.
- Avoid visits to places where other birds are kept.
- Do not touch sick or dead birds without personal protect equipment (PPE).
- Contact your vet, or local animal control, if you notice illness or sudden death.
- Visit the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Animal Health Branch for more information.
Get the seasonal flu vaccine. While the seasonal flu vaccine
will not protect against bird flu, getting vaccinated can lower the
risk of being infected with both seasonal flu and bird flu at the same
time. Getting vaccinated also reduces the chance of getting very sick
from seasonal flu.
If you must have contact with birds, other animals, or their environments, wear recommended PPE and take extra precautions. This includes:
- Wearing PPE: goggles or face shields, NIOSH approved respirator, gloves, coveralls, head cover, boots.
- Working outdoors or in well-ventilated indoor environments.
- Washing your hands after contact with animals or their environments and before taking breaks or eating/drinking.
- Avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Wearing dedicated work clothing and footwear and washing them to keep on-site if possible.
- Changing clothes and footwear and showering after work.
If you find a sick or dead wild bird or other animal:
- Avoid unprotected exposure to sick or dead animals, including
animal feces, litter, or materials.
- Use PPE, such as gloves, a well-fitting mask, and eye protection.
- Wash your hands with soap and water.
- Contact the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
- Sick wildlife can be rehabilitated by the San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife program.
- If you see an unusual number of sick or dead birds in your flock, contact the CDFA Sick Bird Hotline at 1-866-922-2473.
- If you suspect other animals (such as livestock) are infected with avian influenza, contact the Department of Food and Agriculture Ontario Office; (909) 947-5932.
Bird flu can spread from sick cows, birds, or other infected animals to people by:
- Breathing in dust, or droplets, with the virus.
- Splashing raw milk from an infected cow in your eyes, nose, or mouth.
- Touching your eyes, nose, or mouth wish unwashed hands
after:
- Touching raw milk, cow, or bird feces, or other contaminated surfaces or materials.
- Handling sick or dead animals infected with the virus.
- Drinking raw milk.
Groups at higher risk of getting bird flu:
- Farmworkers who:
- Work with dairy cows or poultry.
- Handle raw dairy products.
- Work in slaughterhouses.
- Work in hatcheries.
- Wildlife workers, such as:
- Wildlife rehabilitation center staff and volunteers.
- Veterinary clinic staff.
- Pest management and animal removal personnel.
- Animal control officers and shelter staff.
- Zoo staff and volunteers.
- Other groups:
- Slaughterhouse workers.
- Rendering plant workers.
- Live bird market workers.
- Veterinary clinic staff.
- Persons with sick backyard flocks.
Illness from bird flu in people can range from no symptoms, mild symptoms, to severe illness.
Mild symptoms include:
- Eye redness, and/or
- Mild flu-like upper respiratory symptoms.
Severe symptoms include:
- Pneumonia requiring hospitalization,
- Fever,
- Cough,
- Runny or stuffy nose,
- Headache,
- Muscle or body aches,
- Sore throat,
- Fatigue, and/or
- Shortness or breath or difficulty breathing.
Less common signs and symptoms include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, or seizures.
If you have bird flu symptoms and have been exposed to an animal, animal product, or person with suspected or confirmed bird flu, contact your local health department right away to arrange for testing and treatment. Tell them you may have been exposed to bird flu. Bird flu infection is usually diagnosed by collecting a swab from the nose or throat of the sick person. Testing is more accurate when the swab is collected during the first few days of being sick.
Recommendations for people who are not in the hospital who have symptoms of bird flu, are awaiting to be tested for bird flu, are awaiting for bird flu test results, or have a confirmed bird flu test result:
- Monitor your symptoms. Go to a healthcare provider right away
if you start to feel worse or if you have trouble breathing.
- Tell your healthcare provider that you have, or are being checked for, bird flu so that steps can be taken to protect other people.
- Wear a mask if you enter a healthcare facility.
- Protect yourself and others.
- Stay home and rest.
- Avoid contact with other people, such as those at high risk, except to get medical care.
- Wear a mask when around other people indoors.
- Wash your hands often. If you can’t wash your hands, use a hand sanitizer with a least 60% alcohol.
- Treat aches and fevers.
- Stay hydrated.
- Cover your cough or sneeze.
You may stop isolation when:
- Your eyes are no longer red, irritated, or draining if you had an eye infection,
- Symptoms are mild and improving, and
- Any fever has been gone for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine.
Call the Epidemiology Unit at (619) 692-8499, or send an email, for more information.
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