Mexico confirms H5N1 bird flu at a Yucatán egg farm and says eggs and chicken are safe to eat

Mexico's agriculture ministry confirmed on November 5 that highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu has been found at a commercial egg farm in Umán, in Yucatán. The farm held 225,860 laying hens, which the ministry says is 0.09% of the national inventory. It says market supply is not affected and that eating poultry meat and eggs is safe. Its release doesn't mention any human case.

The alert came from the doctor responsible for the farm after 862 birds died unusually, the ministry says. Officials from its animal health service, Senasica, took samples that tested positive for H5 at a laboratory in Mérida, and the samples then went to a higher-security laboratory in Mexico City for further tests. It gives no date for the first report and doesn't name the farm.

What officials say they have done

• Placed the farm under quarantine, removed all its birds, destroyed waste and contaminated materials, and cleaned and disinfected the site
• Set a risk area of 10 kilometers around the farm, where technicians are sampling all meat, commercial egg and breeder farms
• Planned to bring in sentinel birds after a rest period, to confirm the virus has gone before restocking
• Left open emergency vaccination on neighboring farms, depending on those results
• Started inspecting nearby bodies of water, where migratory birds arrive in winter, with a wildlife surveillance team due soon to check whether wild birds were the source

What it means at the table

The ministry calls eating poultry meat and eggs "completamente seguro" (completely safe). Its release doesn't say where this farm's eggs were sold, and it doesn't address visitors. Health agencies add a condition about cooking. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization's regional office for the Americas, said in May 2025 that there was no evidence the virus can reach people through "properly prepared and cooked poultry or eggs." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says cooking poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165°F (about 74°C, by our conversion) kills avian influenza viruses, and that eggs should be cooked "all the way before eating." CDC also says it has no evidence of anyone in the United States being infected after eating poultry products that were properly handled and cooked, though it says uncooked poultry and products such as blood could have been the source of a small number of infections in Southeast Asia.

For travelers, CDC says: "Currently, CDC does not recommend against travel to any countries or U.S. states because avian influenza A viruses have been detected in wild birds, poultry, other animals, or people." For travelers to places with H5N1 outbreaks in animals or people, its advice includes "Do not visit poultry farms, bird markets, or other places where live poultry are raised, kept, or sold, if possible," and "Do not eat raw or undercooked poultry products and wash your hands after touching uncooked poultry." It also says to see a doctor if they become sick during or after travel, and to mention possible exposure to infected birds. That page is dated April 2025. On November 5, the UK's Mexico health advice did not mention bird flu, CDC's travel-notice feed listed nothing on it for Mexico, and the Mexican health ministry's press list showed no release on this case. Mexico's health ministry is the official body for questions about individual health.

Yucatán has seen this before

The November 5 release doesn't mention it, but Umán has been through this before, as the table shows. From October 2022 to February 2023, Senasica counted 50 positive cases in 13 states and 5.9 million birds affected.

Durango, our home region, is where Mexico's first confirmed human H5N1 infection was reported. The health ministry said in April 2025 that a young child living in the state had tested positive, and that the child died on April 8 of respiratory complications. PAHO said later that 49 contacts tested negative and no direct source was identified. In its April 2025 statement, the ministry said WHO considered the virus's public health risk to the general population to be low. That statement predates this case.