H5N1 Avian Flu Spreads Globally in 2025: Unprecedented Outbreaks Across Continents Raise Pandemic Preparedness Concerns
Published: November 12, 2025
Duration: 4:25
This is H5N1 Global Scan: Avian Flu Worldwide, your three-minute international focus podcast.
In 2025, avian influenza H5N1 has remained a persistent and evolving global challenge. Originally detected in wild aquatic birds and first infecting humans during the 1997 Hong Kong outbreak, H5N1 has since spread across every continent except Australia, affecting both wild and domestic birds, as well as a worrying range of mammals.
Let’s break it down by region. In the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization has recorded over five thousand outbreaks since 2022, with 19 countries impacted and rare but serious human ca...
In 2025, avian influenza H5N1 has remained a persistent and evolving global challenge. Originally detected in wild aquatic birds and first infecting humans during the 1997 Hong Kong outbreak, H5N1 has since spread across every continent except Australia, affecting both wild and domestic birds, as well as a worrying range of mammals.
Let’s break it down by region. In the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization has recorded over five thousand outbreaks since 2022, with 19 countries impacted and rare but serious human ca...