Bird flu is spreading. Your backyard feeder could make it worse

Bird flu is spreading. Your backyard feeder could make it worse

Backyard bird feeders could become unexpected hotspots for H5N1 as Australia’s bird flu outbreak spreads, bringing species together in ways that rarely occur naturally. Experts say stopping feeding is safest, while smaller amounts of food, no hand-feeding, and careful cleaning can reduce the danger.

Backyard bird feeding could be a bird flu ‘superspreader’. An expert explains

Kamadie/GettyBackyard bird feeding is one of our country’s most popular pastimes. Research reveals about half of Australian households feed wild birds, with many people doing so daily. However, this practice could act as a superspreader event – where a disease infects an unusually high number of people or animals – of the H5N1 virus. This deadly strain of bird flu has already decimated wild bird and mammal populations worldwide. It is now spread…