(NewsNation) — The latest turn in the bird flu outbreaks involves rats, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
In an update provided this week, the USDA said avian influenza had been detected in mammals including four rats from Riverside County, California during late January.
More recently, a fox in North Dakota, a bobcat in the state of Washington, a cat in Oregon and a harbor seal in Massachusetts all had been infected by bird flu.
The USDA warns that the H5N! viruses detected in the animals “may cause illness, including severe disease and death in some cases.”
According to a recently released report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bird flu may be spreading undetected in humans.
Data posted last week in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report suggests the spread of bird flu between dairy cattle and humans has gone unchecked, including in states where cattle have not tested positive.
This comes after the Trump Administration froze external communications from the agency, which interrupted the agency’s weekly report.
According to the latest CDC numbers, there are 70 confirmed cases in the United States and no known person-to-person spread.
One person has died from aviation flu in the U.S., but the current public health risk is classified as low.
NewsNation’s Jordan Perkins also contributed to this report
