In today’s Health Alert, a new strain of bird flu - H5N9 - has been detected in the U.S. The first confirmed case was found at a commercial duck farm in California.

This week, the World Organization for Animal Health reported that it had been notified by the USDA that a November outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza on a California duck farm was caused by a strain not before seen in the United States: H5N9.

The newly reported H5N9 strain was found Monday at a duck farm in Merced County, California, according to the World Organization for Animal Health. The Paris-based organization that studies animal diseases said it's the first verified U.S. case of H5N9 in poultry. The organization said the more common strain H5N1 was also found.

The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources is receiving increasing reports of sick or dead wild birds on the Eastern Shore.

Learn about the new H5N9 bird flu strain in the US, its impact on food safety and prices, plus expert advice on protecting yourself from avian influenza.

Massachusetts, United States - A man died Monday in Louisiana after contracting the bird flu virus after being exposed to birds. By December the CDC had identified at least 65 human infections of avian flu in the United States,