Emmanuel, a TikTok-famous emu, has avian flu after a deadly outbreak on a Florida farm - NPR

Taylor Blake is helping Emmanuel with carnal therapy successful a homemade sling. @hiitaylorblake/Screenshot by NPR hide caption

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@hiitaylorblake/Screenshot by NPR

Taylor Blake is helping Emmanuel with carnal therapy successful a homemade sling.

@hiitaylorblake/Screenshot by NPR

Emmanuel, a wide beloved emu who went viral connected TikTok, is successful dire information battling the avian flu.

Taylor Blake's household workplace successful South Florida, Knuckle Bump Farms, has mislaid much than 50 birds successful conscionable 3 days, Blake wrote connected Twitter Saturday. Only 2 birds survived.

"I americium inactive trying to wrapper my caput astir it," Blake wrote. "We thought we were retired of the woods, erstwhile Emmanuel unexpectedly went down this past Wednesday."

Emmanuel became a viral sensation for his behaviour interrupting Blake's TikTok videos and attacking the telephone portion Blake was filming.

Blake is looking for an avian specializer who tin dainty Emmanuel, who has suffered nervus harm successful his close limb and foot, according to the Twitter thread. In the meantime, Blake posted a photograph to Twitter of her helping Emmanuel commencement carnal therapy utilizing a homemade sling.

The H5N1 vertebrate influenza has killed much than 45 cardinal birds successful the U.S. since the commencement of an outbreak successful February, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Scientists judge wild migratory birds brought the microorganism to North America astatine the opening of the twelvemonth and person dispersed the microorganism to much than 40 chaotic vertebrate species. While chickens and turkeys with the microorganism rapidly die, immoderate waterfowl with the microorganism tin stay steadfast and transportation it agelong distances.

The flu strain historically has posed astir nary hazard to humans, but nationalist experts stay acrophobic astir the anticipation that it could leap crossed species.

"Because humans person nary anterior immunity to these viruses typically, if they were to beryllium infected and dispersed the microorganism to different humans, past we could person different pandemic microorganism connected our hands," Todd Davis, an adept connected animal-to-human diseases astatine the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told NPR earlier this year.

The United Kingdom is besides dealing with a vertebrate flu outbreak — its largest ever — and declared an Aviation Influenza Prevention Zone connected Monday, requiring vertebrate keepers successful Great Britain to travel strict biosecurity measures. Bird keepers successful Great Britain volition person to support free-ranging birds wrong fenced areas and support home ducks and geese abstracted from different poultry. Keepers besides volition request to regularly cleanable and disinfect their footwear.