While the World Cup public health emergency dominates headlines, a slower but serious biosecurity threat is growing with less attention: H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) continues to spread in U.S. poultry in 2026, with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirming H5N1 HPAI detections in commercial poultry in 12 states since January 2026.

The ongoing outbreak in commercial poultry, following the dairy cattle H5N1 outbreak since March 2024, shows a rare long-term presence of a highly pathogenic avian influenza in U.S. farm animals. This has no modern precedent in the food system. Los Angeles, as a major market, is directly exposed through supply chains that rely on Central Valley poultry and eggs.

The Central Valley (Fresno, Tulare, Kings, Merced) supplies much of Southern California's poultry and eggs. H5N1 HPAI has been found in California poultry in 2024 and 2025, with tighter biosecurity now in place. The NIOSH June 2026 newsletter confirmed that H5N1 avian influenza spreading from cows to people presents a new challenge. Wisconsin's NIOSH-funded "Gear Up, Wash Up, Step Up" campaign has reached over 438,000 people in dairy regions since 2025, but no similar campaign exists yet for Central Valley workers tied to the LA supply chain.

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The Human Risk That Has Not Gone Away

Public health messages about H5N1 say the risk to consumers is low: well-cooked poultry and eggs (165°F) kill the virus, and pasteurized dairy is safe. The main risk is not in grocery food, but for workers who directly handle live or dead poultry, raw milk, and contaminated surfaces. Since the H5N1 dairy cattle outbreak began in March 2024, the CDC has reported at least 70 human cases in the U.S., all in people with close animal contact. Historically, H5N1 infections in humans have had about a 60% case fatality rate, the highest among influenza viruses.

A 2026 study by UTHealth Houston and Baylor College of Medicine, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also found hidden H5N1 spread in wastewater across 10 Texas cities, linked to agricultural processing sites.

California's Central Valley has no equivalent comprehensive wastewater surveillance system for H5N1 covering the full range of agricultural processing facilities that supply Los Angeles's food market. The California Department of Food and Agriculture's enhanced biosecurity protocols at poultry operations are the primary protective measure — but they protect against flock-to-flock transmission and worker exposure mitigation, not against the silent environmental spread that wastewater surveillance can detect.

The World Cup Compound Risk

The H5N1 situation overlaps with the World Cup in a way health officials have not publicly addressed. The tournament is expected to bring about 150,000 international visitors to Los Angeles, including people from countries where H5N1 has been widely circulating in wild birds and poultry during 2025–2026. These visitors will eat at LA restaurants, buy poultry and eggs from local stores, and may visit farmers' markets and food-related tourist sites.

If any infected poultry product slips past food safety checks — which the Texas wastewater study suggests may be more likely than standard monitoring shows — it could be eaten by a visitor who may have had prior H5N1 exposure. This overlap could create conditions where viral mixing or reassortment becomes possible.

What the Risk Is and What It Is Not

This article is not saying a bird flu pandemic is coming soon or that Los Angeles residents should avoid eating poultry. The CDC still rates the public risk of H5N1 as low, and there has been no confirmed human-to-human spread in the United States. The main concern is for agricultural workers, including poultry farm workers, egg facility staff, live poultry market workers in San Gabriel Valley ethnic grocery markets, and food processing workers across the Central Valley supply chain that serves the 13 million people in the Los Angeles area.

For these workers, the CDC and NIOSH recommend using N95 masks or higher when handling live or possibly infected birds, wearing eye protection, gloves, and protective clothing, and not eating, drinking, or touching the face in animal exposure areas. They should also report symptoms like fever, cough, eye redness, or breathing problems right away after exposure.

The USDA's HPAI detection map and the CDC's H5N1 situation summary provide current information on confirmed detections and worker protection guidance. For LA consumers: continue eating properly cooked poultry and pasteurized dairy as normal — the food safety risk at the consumer level remains low. The epidemiological risk at the agricultural frontier of the supply chain requires surveillance investment and worker protection that the current system has not yet fully provided.