A recent outbreak of bird flu, also known as avian influenza or H5N1, in parts of India, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana, has raised concerns. This highly contagious viral disease primarily affects birds, but can occasionally infect humans through contact with the saliva, nasal secretions, or faeces of infected birds.

The H5N1 avian flu has impacted more than 160 million birds, resulting in the deaths of 20 million egg-laying chickens since 2022.

Cutting thousands of U.S. Department of Agriculture jobs, as the Trump administration did late last week, leaves questions about the department's ability to carry on it fight against bird flu.