Bird flu reported to be in Florida dolphin

H5N1 avian “bird” flu is making headlines this week, with new reports finding inactive virus detected in 1 in 5 U.S. milk samples.

That means the virus is infecting mammals such as dairy cows, and now researchers report it’s turned up in a bottlenose dolphin in Florida.

“We still don’t know where the dolphin got the virus and more research needs to be done,” said study co-author Richard Webby. He directs the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds at St. Jude’s.

Scientists are increasingly concerned that bird flu has moved from birds to numerous mammalian species, raising the chances that it might mutate to a strain that easily infects humans.