The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a major shift in how it shares information about the A(H5) bird flu. Starting July 7, 2025, updates on this high-risk virus are now bundled with the agency’s regular influenza data releases, reflecting a more integrated public-health strategy.
Under the new schedule, the number of people who have been monitored or tested for the virus is posted each month on the CDC’s dedicated surveillance page. Meanwhile, data on highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) detections in animals no longer appear on the CDC site; they have been moved to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) portal.
Revised reporting cadence and data sources
By aligning bird-flu metrics with routine flu surveillance, the CDC aims to give health officials a clearer, more timely picture of disease trends. Monthly figures on human monitoring are now available at A(H5) Bird Flu Surveillance and Human Monitoring. The USDA hosts all animal-related HPAI information, which can be accessed through its own website.
Human case tally since February 2024
Since the first recorded infection in February 2024, the United States has documented 72 confirmed human cases of A(H5) bird flu. Of these, seven were identified through the national flu surveillance system, while the remaining 65 emerged from targeted human-monitoring investigations. This breakdown highlights the importance of both broad-scale surveillance and focused case-finding efforts.
Defining probable and confirmed infections
When a state or local public-health laboratory finds a specimen that tests positive for A(H5) but the CDC cannot verify the result, the case is classified as probable according to the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) guidance. In January 2025, the CDC refined this rule: once a laboratory has three of its A(H5) detections confirmed by the CDC, any further positive results from that lab are treated as confirmed without additional CDC validation.
Where to find the latest numbers
For anyone needing up-to-date statistics, the CDC’s FluView platform continues to list any new A(H5) bird flu cases alongside seasonal flu data. Detailed seasonal and subtype breakdowns are also published on the surveillance page mentioned earlier. Researchers interested in the animal side of the outbreak should consult the USDA’s HPAI database, which provides weekly updates on detections in poultry and wild birds.
These coordinated reporting changes are designed to give clinicians, policymakers, and the public a more coherent understanding of the evolving threat posed by A(H5) bird flu. By consolidating human data and directing animal findings to the USDA, the CDC hopes to streamline response efforts while maintaining transparency about the virus’s impact across both populations.
