A fourth case of bird flu has been detected in Georgia. Scott Olson/Getty Images
The Georgia Department of Agriculture announced it had detected a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, sometimes called bird flu, in a small, backyard flock of chickens and ducks in Clayton County. This is the fourth detection of HPAI in Georgia since a nationwide outbreak began in February 2022, according to the department.
The illness is a highly contagious viral disease that can decimate flocks of birds, both domestic and wild, and can sometimes spread to mammals, including humans. As of Jan. 6, there have been 66 confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the U.S., including one case in Louisiana in which a patient died …