Emmanuel is a 5-foot-8, 120-pound emu.
An emu named Emmanuel, that became famous for its attention-grabbing behaviour on the internet, has caught bird flu and is unwell following this horrific epidemic, according to a report in Washington Post. In several TikTok videos, the bird was seen humorously pecking his owner's phone who is filming agricultural training videos. According to the Post report, the emu is struggling for its life because of the disease that has previously killed a majority of the birds at the farm.
A thread was posted by content producer and hobby farmer Taylor Blake on Twitter on Sunday. Ms Blake also posted various pictures of the bird that is getting treatment and has been kept with precautions.
According to the thread, Emmanuel is suffering from nerve damage in his right leg after catching the disease and is unable to eat or drink on his own.
Ms Blake, whose family runs Knuckle Bump Farms in South Florida, claimed the farm lost more than 50 birds in three days, except for Emmanuel and Rico the swan, reported the post.
Emmanuel is a 5-foot-8, 120-pound emu that was interviewed by the Post in July. It is facing "a long road ahead" to recovery, said Ms Blake. But he is a "fighter," she added.
The United States is in the middle of a months-long avian influenza outbreak. As per the scientists, it is more deadly since 2015 when a "highly pathogenic" variant of the illness infected more than 49 million birds. The Department of Agriculture termed it the "most expensive animal health emergency" in its history, the Post further said.
Ms Blake also believes the farm's avian influenza epidemic was transmitted by flocks of wild Egyptian geese, a species of aquatic bird known as waterfowl, which often come in "under the cover of darkness." She believes the disease was transmitted among the tamed birds there.