On the heels of the first person in the United States to die from H5N1 avian flu after contracting it from infected birds, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has launched a new interactive dashboard to track and monitor H5N1 cases of avian flu in humans. It also provides data from the World Organization for Animal Health tracking domestic and wild birds as well as mammals throughout the Americas.
During 2024, there were 66 confirmed cases of H5N1 within humans in the United States and one in Canada, and over 1300 outbreaks in animals across the Americas.
The PAHO dashboard also includes data on the symptoms of the patients that contracted H5N1, when known. The PAHO press release explains that "this level of detail can help public health authorities be better prepared to detect and make informed, swift decisions during an outbreak." On the dashboard, you'll also find a timeline of major events related to the spread of H5N1 across the Americas, from 2020 through the present.
Based in Washington, D.C. (with 27 offices throughout various member countries and three regional specialty centers) and part of the World Health Organization, the PAHO is the specialized international health agency for the Americas, covering North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean. On its website it explains that it works in the region with its 35 Member States and four Associate Members to "improve and protect people's health." It further states:
PAHO engages in technical cooperation with its member countries to fight communicable and noncommunicable diseases and their causes, to strengthen health systems, and to respond to emergencies and disasters . . .
To advance these goals, PAHO promotes technical cooperation between countries and works in partnership with ministries of health and other government agencies, civil society organizations, other international agencies, universities, social security agencies, community groups, and other partners. PAHO promotes the inclusion of health in all public policies and the engagement of all sectors in efforts to ensure that people live longer, healthier lives, with good health as their most valuable resource.
You can find the dashboard here—it's definitely worth bookmarking as H5N1 continues to spread.