In the U.S., there have been 70 reported cases of bird flu in humans since 2024, but none in North Carolina and no known person-to-person spread of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One person reportedly died in Louisiana.

More than 80 domestic cats, among many other types of mammals, have been confirmed to have had bird flu since 2022 — generally barn cats that lived on dairy farms, as well as feral cats and pets that spend time outdoors and likely caught it by hunting diseased rodents or wild birds.

A recent CDC MMWR report shows three new asymptomatic human cases of bird flu, suggesting the virus may be silently spreading as recent research shows the bird flu virus may be just a few mutations away from human-to-human transmission.