Immigration crackdown could stymie efforts to fight bird flu outbreak, experts fear
By Susanne Rust
Staff Writer
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July 18, 2025 3 AM PT
Dairy and poultry workers, many of them immigrants, have been disproportionately infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus and their cooperation would be crucial should another outbreak occur.
Bird flu cases are down this summer, but scientists are “all kind of bracing to see what might happen this fall,” said the director of a U.S. lab that monitors the H5N1 virus in wild birds.
As authorities brace for a potential resurgence in bird flu cases this fall, infectious disease specialists warn that the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants could hamper efforts to stop the spread of disease.
Dairy and poultry workers have been disproportionately infected with the H5N1 bird flu since it was first detected in U.S. dairy cows in March 2024, accounting for 65 of the 70 confirmed infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As is the case throughout agriculture, immigrants make up a significant proportion of this workforce and both industry groups and academics say many of these workers probably entered the U.S. illegally. That could spell trouble for a future outbreak of bird flu, infectious disease experts say, making workers reluctant to cooperate with health investigators.
https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2025-07-18/has-h5n1-bird-flu-truly-waned-or-has-info-been-stifled-under-rfk-jr
