H5N1 avian influenza continues to spread amid commercial and backyard poultry, and additional cases have been reported in domestic cats

Poultry activity in Georgia is at a stand still, as a statewide suspension has been enacted after cases of bird flu were discovered.

"The Chinese poultry lineage may have experienced more vaccine-driven selection compared to other lineages," the researchers wrote.

H5N1 vaccines have been previously licensed, and millions are in the national stockpile. But even with the news of the country’s first human death due to bird flu, vaccination isn’t yet recommended.