Bird flu concerns increase with dozens of new cases in wild birds.

Bird flu crisis enters new phase While the developments may not raise the risk of a pandemic, they could create more havoc for farmers, worsen egg shortages and expose surveillance gaps. Adriel Bettelheim,Tina Reed Axios

Dozens of newly confirmed cases of avian influenza in wild birds and the first verified U.S. case of a new strain of the virus are raising concern the bird flu crisis may be entering a troubling new phase.

While the developments don't necessarily raise the risk of a pandemic, they could create more havoc for farmers, exacerbate egg shortages and expose more gaps in government disease surveillance.

• The outbreak is intensifying as the Trump administration maintains a pause on most external federal health agency communications, including publication of CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), a venerable source of scientific reports on public health.

Driving the news: The Department of Agriculture last week confirmed 81 detections of highly pathogenic avian flu in wild birds collected across 24 states between Dec. 29 and Jan. 17.

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