Galveston County Health District (GCHD), UTMB’s One Health Research and Training Laboratory, the Galveston National Laboratory, Galveston County Animal Services, UTMB’s Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness, and Education, and UTMB’s School of Public and Population Health, have recently joined efforts to develop a surveillance program for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (HPAI) virus among birds in Galveston County with unexplained deaths. In November and December of 2025, this new collaboration recently detected HPAI H5N1 strains in 7 (70%) of 10 deceased birds at various sites within Galveston County. While the risk to the public remains low with no evidence of human infection with avian viruses, the findings of this new surveillance program underscore the importance of testing dead birds for emerging pathogens and taking precautions—especially for outdoor pets that may have contact with infected wildlife.
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When a Dead Bird Becomes a Public Health Signal: Galveston County’s Avian Flu Surveillance
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Shouldn’t We Be More Concerned About Influenza D and CCoV-HuPn-2018 Viruses?
A recent commentary from One Health researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) warns that two emerging respiratory viruses—influenza D (FluD) and canine coronavirus CCoV-HuPn-2018—may pose underrecognized public health threats. Although neither virus has yet caused a large-scale epidemic, growing evidence of human infection and cross-species transmission highlights important surveillance and diagnostic gaps. The authors argue that a proactive One Health approach including strengthening diagnostics, surveillance, and cross-sector collaboration, is essential to detect and mitigate future respiratory pandemics before widespread transmission occurs.
