Highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has increasingly spread to mammals and infected hundreds of people, raising concerns that it may lead to human-to-human transmission and turn into a new pandemic.

The detection of bird flu in a sheep is another sign that the H5N1 virus is adapting to hop to new hosts The H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in a single sheep in England. This is the first time the virus has been detected in sheep,

The 114 commercial outbreaks in South Dakota have led to the death or intentional killing of more than 6 million turkeys, chickens and other birds.