Americans concerned over bird flu outbreaks, but awareness is limited

Washington DC, March 13, 2025 - H5N1, also known as bird flu or avian flu, is a highly contagious strain of influenza most commonly spread among wild birds, poultry, and cattle. However, in recent months, there have been a limited number of cases of bird flu spreading to humans. A recent Ipsos study found that, while most Americans have heard of bird flu, they only know a little about it. Additionally, about half of Americans are concerned about getting the bird flu themselves, while around three quarters are concerned about a future widespread outbreak affecting humans in the United States.

Detailed Findings:

Most Americans are aware of bird flu, though many know nothing about it. Regardless of this relatively low familiarity, a significant majority are concerned about a future widespread outbreak in the U.S.

• At the time of fielding in January 2025, 90% of respondents had heard of bird flu; however 25% noted that, while they had heard of bird flu, they knew nothing about it. Meanwhile, only 11% of respondents felt like they knew a lot about it.
• Only 10% of respondents overall had not heard of bird flu at all, and this lack of awareness was more common in 18–34-year-olds (21%), lower income (16%), and Black (16%) respondents. Over half of respondents (53%) are concerned about getting bird flu, though 34% are only a little concerned at the prospect. Similarly, 71% of respondents are concerned about a future widespread outbreak of bird flu affecting humans in the United States, but most are only a little concerned by this (43%).
• At 17%, Black respondents are most likely to indicate that they were very concerned about getting bird flu, compared to just 2% of White respondents and 7% of Hispanic respondents.

Many Americans recognized the importance of taking preventative measures to avoid getting sick or spreading the disease. However, there was less certainty about receiving a vaccine to prevent spread, both among individuals and their perceptions of others in their community.

• When asked about preventative measures in case of a widespread outbreak, the most commonly cited precautions were to wash hands more frequently (71%) and to avoid direct contact with sick or dead wild birds, poultry, and other animals (70%). Other key precautions included avoiding surfaces or materials contaminated with bodily fluids from birds and other animals that had either confirmed or suspected infection (61%) and avoiding raw milk and undercooked meat (49%).
• Finally, while there is no vaccine for bird flu yet, when asked hypothetically about vaccination likelihood, there is a near-even split between those who say they would get a bird flu vaccine if it became available (36%) versus those who wouldn’t (41%).
• Additionally, around two thirds (63%) of respondents believe that most people in their community would not get vaccinated, if available.

About the Study

This Ipsos poll was conducted from January 24-26, 2025, using the probability-based KnowledgePanel^®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,034 adults age 18 or older.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult U.S. population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the U.S. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2024 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS).

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
• Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or higher)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.14.

The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is one of the largest market research and polling companies globally, operating in 90 markets and employing over 18,000 people.

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. Our 75 solutions are based on primary data from our surveys, social media monitoring, and qualitative or observational techniques.

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