Can humans contract bird flu? Everything you need to know about avian influenza Direct contact with infected poultry, or with surfaces and objects contaminated by their droppings, is the main route of bird flu transmission to humans but is occasional. January 11, 2021 / 01:17 PM IST Chickens are seen in a contaminate farm while workers from the Animal Protection Ministry prepare to cull them to contain an outbreak of bird flu, at a farm in the village of Modeste, Ivory Coast, August 14, 2015. Ivory Coast said on Friday that H5N1 bird flu had spread to a third location in the country, in the latest in a series of outbreaks in West Africa. The case was discovered on a farm in the village of Modeste, about 15 km (nine miles) east of the commercial capital Abidjan. REUTERS/Luc Gnago - GF10000174236