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This virus may never evolve to spread dangerously among humans, but if it does, this particular avian flu pandemic will go down as one of the most avoidable slow-motion disasters in history.

Zeynep Tufekci, The New York Times

Poultry

Due to their sheer numbers and susceptibility to H5N1, the more than 30 billion chickens and other poultry worldwide are a threat to humans. Most of the human H5N1 infections were caused by contact with poultry.

>> Poultry

In 2020, the global chicken population was over 33 billion birds. Approximately 46 percent of these were in Asia.
Source: Chickens
Of the 1.15 billion ducks (Anas spp.) kept in 2020 worldwide, 1.0 (89 percent) were in Asia. The largest duck populations are found in China, Viet Nam, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
Source: Ducks
In 2020, more than 450 million turkeys were kept around the world. Geese and guinea fowl together amounted to 364 million birds.
Source: Other poultry

Pigs

While pigs are unlikely to directly cause human H5N1 infections, they are potential mixing vessels. Pigs are susceptible to various influenza viruses and show no symptoms when infected with H5N1. Around 1 billion pigs worldwide have the potential to spread the H5N1 virus undetected until it mutates or exchanges genetic code with another influenza virus.

>> Pigs

The global population of pigs has grown steadily over the past decades, from around 400 million in the early 1960s to close to one billion today. At the same time, the average size of pig farms has also increased. Throughout the world, small, backyard pig production has given way to large, commercial pig units. Whereas in the 1990s a large pig farm would have 200 breeding sows, now many farms have thousands or even tens of thousands of sows.
Source: Large scale vaccination against swine flu (Part II)

Cows

Cows are not very susceptible to various influenza viruses and show little symptoms when infected with H5N1. Around 1 billion cows worldwide have the potential to spread the H5N1 virus undetected until it mutates or exchanges genetic code with another influenza virus.

>> Cows

Our findings are that there are closer to 1.5 billion cows worldwide. However, according to 2023 studies by USDA, there are approximately 1 billion (942,630 to be exact) cattle stocks in the world. In 2014, according to Our World in Data, cattle stocks numbered 1.47 billion head of cattle worldwide.
Source: Wondering How Many Cows Are in the World? Global Cattle Population Data Revealed!

Goats

While goats so far have been a minor concern, the first documented cases highlight the dangers of mixed species farming, often on a smaller scale and in close contact with poultry and humans.

>> Goats

Minks and Fur Farms

Minks are closely related to ferrets, which are used as laboratory animals for influenza research due to their airways being similar to those of humans and their high susceptibility to influenza viruses. The increasing number of H5N1 outbreaks in fur farms is maybe the most surprising development during the current panzootic. There are around 40 million minks in fur farms, but also millions of other animals like foxes.

>> Fur Farms

Pets, mostly Cats and Dogs

Although estimates vary a lot, there are roughly 1 billion cats and dogs combined. What makes them dangerous is how close they are to humans, despite their frequent contacts with potentially infected wild animals.

>> Pets

  • poultry-farm
  • Mink farm. Mink in the cage. Mink's fur
  • pigs-1
  • chickens
  • Black cat with a bird caught in the teeth