San Francisco public health officials say H5N1 risk to general public remains low; monitoring and planning underway

San Francisco health officials told the Health Commission that the risk to the general public from the H5N1 avian influenza strain remains low but requires continued surveillance and planning.

Dr. George Hahn, Communicable Disease Section Director, said the strain now circulating in North America arrived in 2021 and has infected poultry and dairy herds, including dairy outbreaks that spread across the U.S. in 2024. "To date, the virus has not gained the ability to transmit easily from person to person," Hahn said. He added that most U.S. human cases have been mild and that infections so far have occurred mainly in dairy and poultry workers in close contact with infected animals.

Why this matters: California has seen extensive dairy herd impacts this year, and officials said those livestock outbreaks are the primary reason the state…