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First US case of H5N9 bird flu strain found in California

MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The country’s first case of H5N9 bird flu has been identified in Merced County, California, officials say.

This H5N9 strain, which was identified earlier this month, is different from the H5N1 strain that had already been documented in multiple cases across the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been more than 60 people who have been sickened and one person who was killed by H5N1.

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Central Valley dairy farmers concerned with avian flu spread

In a notification, the World Organisation for Animal Health confirmed that the strain detected in Merced County is a new strain in the country. The investigation began on Nov. 23, 2024, and it was confirmed on Jan. 13 that “this is the first confirmed case of HPAI H5N9 in poultry in the United States.”

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in conjunction with State Animal Health and Wildlife Officials, are conducting comprehensive epidemiological investigations and enhanced surveillance in response to the HPAI related events.World Organisation for Animal Health

This strain of H5N9 was found in a commercial duck premises in Merced County. The specific location of the facility was not officially released.

The announcement states that control measures have been undertaken in an attempt to contain the virus, including control of movement, surveillance and quarantine. The report from the World Organisation for Animal Health also stated that a total of 118,954 birds were killed in December after state officials quarantined the affected area.

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Bird flu is primarily spread by wild birds such as ducks and geese as they migrate. While it is fatal to a variety of animals, those species can generally carry it without getting sick, which offers the virus a chance to mutate and thrive.

The virus can be spread through droppings or any interaction between farm-raised poultry and wild birds. It’s also easily tracked into a farm on someone’s boots or by vehicle.

Unlike previous outbreaks, the one that began in 2022 didn’t die out in high summer temperatures.

The virus found another new host when dairy cattle started getting sick last March. That creates more opportunities for the virus to linger and spread and unlike poultry, cattle aren’t slaughtered when they get sick because they rarely die from bird flu.

Nearly all of the people infected with bird flu worked around sick animals. Health officials haven’t yet found evidence of the disease spreading from person to person.

September 14, 2025

By The National Herald

Volunteers Work to Free Octopus from Unlawful Traps in Greece. Photo: Reuters/Youtube

Octopus – grilled or fried and usually paired with ouzo – is a summer staple dish in Greece, some restaurants displaying the dried catch on lines for customers to see but the demand has also led to unlawful octopus traps.

A volunteer group called Sea Shepherd, with the help of regional authorities, goes out to sea to find the traps and release those octopus caught in them and said they have saved more than 1,500 and are trying to stop the the practice, said Reuters.

It’s a daunting task as the group and authorities estimate that there are perhaps 500,000 more unlawful octopus traps on the sea floor in northern Greece, with an increasing appetite for octopus driving the illicit trade.

“The numbers are absolutely mind-blowing,”  Sea Shepherd CEO Captain Alex Cornelissen told the news agency about the number of traps hauled. “If you want to preserve the octopus then you need to do something about it.”

He said the problem extends across Europe, in Italy, Spain and Portugal. It comes as the global trade in octopus has soared over the last decade and as climate change alters reproductive habits, the report noted.

Greeks love octopus and it’s a special treat for tourists too, especially at seaside restaurants and on islands, and the country is one of the worst offenders of unlawfully trapping them.

The traps are placed by hunters who put pots weighted with a stone on the seabed, the barrel-shape resembling dens and rock holes where octopuses like to shelter and tend their eggs. They are tied to long lines of rope attached to small buoys.

The fishing method is banned or restricted during the summer breeding season in northern Greece. Instead of retrieving the pots at the end of June and redeploying them in October, some fishermen have only been adding to the lines for years.

The crew of the Sea Eagle said it had recovered 288 kilometers (179 miles) of line from the seas and that in violation of the law the pots aren’t marked with the owners name and many are crusty.

The plastic pots are the most abundant litter item removed from the Thracian Sea, according to a recent study by environmental organisation iSea, the report also noted about the pollution effect.

Some of the plastic pots disintegrate when pulled out, said Valia Stefanoudaki, Sea Shepherd’s campaigns’ director in Greece.

“We want to sit by the sea to enjoy our ouzo. But the fact that the sea is emptying does not even cross our mind,” said Stefanoudaki. “It’s a chain, from the tiniest (creature) in the sea to the biggest. When the chain breaks, it’s over.”