Public Health | Greene County NY | Greene County Public Health Dept,

The H5 bird flu is currently widespread in wild birds worldwide, which is causing outbreaks in poultry and dairy cows in the U.S., as well as the individuals who work in these locations. While the current public health risk is low, the CDC is monitoring incidents of people with animal exposure.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A virus (HPAI) H5N1 was initially confirmed in humans April of 2024. As of January 2025, there have been 67 reported human cases, including one death in an immunocompromised individual. To date, no person-to-person spread has been identified. Over 130,000,000 poultry and 1,000 dairy herds have been affected so far.

H5N1 potential cases include symptoms of acute respiratory illness or conjunctivitis in individuals who had any of the following relevant exposures within the past 10 days:

Direct contact with known or potentially sick animals, particularly wild birds, domestic poultry, and dairy cattle. High risk activities include handling, milking, slaughtering, defeathering, butchering, culling, and preparing for consumption.
Direct contact with unpasteurized milk or dairy products.
Direct contact with water or surfaces contaminated with feces or unpasteurized milk.
Prolonged exposure to potentially infected animals in a confined space.

If an infection is suspected: Click here to report potential case to NYSDEC.

Isolate use proper PPE when interacting with others.
Visit a healthcare provider for testing.
Report the potential case to NYSDEC at the link above.

For more information, follow the link: H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation | Bird Flu | CDC

Mission: Serving the community to prevent disease, promote and protect health, and provide education supporting healthy lifestyles.

Greene County Public Health Department provides programs and services for a wide variety of health needs.

The Community Health Assessment (CHA) summarizes the needs of communities in the Capital Region. The report provides local health departments and hospitals a broad array of health information that is used in determining and monitoring health planning, sets the stage for continuous improvement, and provides the information and research needed to create a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) that measurably improves health in the community. For more information regarding the CHA or CHIP, follow this link.

We recently had our Public Health Fellow review statistical information about the health of the people in our county. You can review the report here: Greene County CHS Report.

Environmental Health

As Greene County is a partial-service county, all questions related to Environmental health (site assessments, hotel/motel complaints, septic & water well issues, food vendor permits, etc.) are handled by the Oneonta District Office of the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). Please contact them at (607) 432-3911 or follow this link.

COVID-19 Information

Find Local Vaccination Sites

For information on COVID-19, follow this link to the CDC. Please contact your healthcare provider or school district with any questions regarding returning to work or school.

View the Opioid Data Dashboard

Overdose data are compiled by the Greene County Public Health Department, with the support of grant funding from the NYSDOH and the CDC Foundation. For inquiries relating to this data, please contact Veronica Salvas at vsalvas@pcgus.com.