TikTok Sensation Emmanuel, the emu is battling avian influenza

Taylor Blake, Emmanuel the emu's caretaker, tweeted on Saturday that the animal is battling avian influenza. After a flock of stray Egyptian geese began frequenting Emmanuel's South Florida farm, Knuckle Bump Farms, he contracted the illness. The geese are a serious menace to domesticated birds, therefore Blake would assist in driving them away. However, he predicted that they would return at night. Since Wednesday, Emmanuel has been battling for his life as the illness has killed 99% of the farm's birds.

We lost 50+ birds in 3 days. I am still trying to wrap my head around it. We thought we were out of the woods, when Emmanuel unexpectedly went down this past Wednesday...? pic.twitter.com/OPgts2XVWV

— eco sister (@hiitaylorblake) October 15, 2022

Blake posted about her best buddy, "I will do anything and go into any amount of debt to preserve his life." I have been caring for him 24 hours a day since Wednesday when my veterinarian came out and was able to sedate and stabilize him until I could find an avian specialist. Because there are so many altered variants of the virus, it is "relatively hard" to vaccinate birds against them, according to Blake. The farm is in contact with the state, which believes that Hurricane Ian's standing water has caused avian influenza to spread wildly. While Emmanuel's neurological symptoms have lessened, according to Blake, he is still unable to eat or drink on his own, and his right leg and foot have nerve damage.