The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging health care workers to accelerate bird flu testing for patients hospitalized with flu symptoms.

The last duck farm on New York's Long Island is facing an uncertain future after a bird flu outbreak forced the culling of nearly 100,000 ducks. The highly contagious H5N1 avian flu, otherwise known as bird flu,

Rhode Island officials on Friday afternoon confirmed the presence of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in a noncommercial farm flock in southern Washington County. The state Department of Environmental Management said in a statement that department staff euthanized about 40 birds earlier Friday “to minimize their suffering from the infection and prevent the spread of the disease to other birds.

Two-point-six million birds will be destroyed following the discovery of avian flu in Newton County. And earlier Thursday, cases of bird flu were confirmed at turkey operations in Jasper and Lawrence County.

As more cases of bird flu emerge across the country, public health leaders in New York City are watching warily -- and making preparations in case the virus becomes a more immediate threat.