The Michigan DNR’s ongoing disease surveillance indicates that HPAI is widespread in wild bird populations throughout the state.

More than 300 dead wild birds have been collected by Michigan's Department of Natural Resources in 2025. Avian flu is suspected in the mass deaths.

More than 300 dead geese and other waterfowl have been discovered in five counties, and bird flu is likely to blame, officials say.

An investigation into two severe H5N1 illnesses in exclusively indoor cats found that they may have been exposed by symptomatic dairy workers, scientists from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and their partners in Michigan reported today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The Department of Natural Resources confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, was found in a merganser recovered in early February along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Milwaukee County.

As the bird flu continues to spread across the U.S., the Michigan DNR says it is widespread among wild birds in the state, with more than 300 dead wild birds found in five counties.

Michigan’s biggest egg producer is advocating for the vaccination of egg-laying hens against the highly pathogenic avian influenza. Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch CEO Greg Herbruck has called on the federal government to take “urgent and critical” measures to address the H5N1 bird flu crisis by implementing an aggressive vaccination strategy.

HPAI spreads easily among birds and – while rare – can spread from birds to people. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the risk to people from HPAI viruses to be low.

A growing number of wild birds are being found dead in Michigan, believed to have contracted the bird flu that’s decimated commercial poultry farms nationwide.

Avian influenza spreads in birds, cows and other animals, and it can sometimes spread to people. In the United States, there has been 68 total reported human cases and one death.