Interest in raising backyard chickens grew rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues due to the ever-increasing cost of store-bought eggs.
But the same H5N1 bird flu that has led to the culling of millions of chickens, ducks and other birds in commercial flocks also has impacted backyard flocks in every state since the outbreak began in February 2022, including more than 20 states in the last 30 days, according to the USDA.
And while backyard flocks tend to be much smaller than commercial enterprises, they account for 37% of the 113 flocks where birds have been tested and confirmed to have bird flu.
In early January, Louisiana officials reported that an older male resident with underlying health issues exposed to backyard and wild birds had become the first and so far only person in the U.S. to die after contracting bird flu.
“The risk to the public is still low,” says Samuel Scarpino, an expert in pathogen surveillance and director of Northeastern’s AI + Life Sciences.
“But if you have chickens or ducks, even in small numbers, you need to be really cautious,” he says.
