Humans aren't the only ones coming down sick ahead of the holiday season.  

"Just like people get the flu, birds get the flu. Some strains are a lot worse than others. In this case, it's really bad. It kills the birds," said David Anderson, an economist at AgriLife. 

Across the country, avian flu outbreaks are taking a toll on the turkey and chicken industry, leaving farmers scrambling as they try to protect their birds. 

"We started off the year as normal at our normal time with 600 birds. They had not even left the rooting barn yet; the bird flu came into the area," said Cathy Cabalo, the owner of Cabalo's Orchard and Gardens. "When we're looking at 600 turkeys, that are bread and butter to the season, we didn't dare let them outside."

As of November 1, 43 states had at least one confirmed infected flock according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture — with Iowa being one of the hardest hit states in recent weeks. Officials estimate that nearly 48 million birds in the U.S. have been affected so far. 

Out of the 585 flocks confirmed to have cases of Avian flu, 333 are backyard flocks – with the CDC advising folks raising their own birds to do so with caution. That means wearing protective equipment like goggles and masks especially when handling sick or dead birds. 

SEE MORE: Bird Flu Spreading Across The Country, Detected In At Least 29 States

The avian flu is not just an American problem, in the U.K, poultry farmers have been ordered to keep birds indoors as the country has recorded its largest spread on record more than 200 cases. In Japan, 40,000 chickens were ordered slaughtered following positive tests. 

As case numbers rise, businesses are struggling to keep up with holiday demand. 

"Between Avian influenza and high feed costs, right there you have the recipe for higher prices. We see right now at the store, whether wholesale or retail prices," said Anderson. 

Greg Schmidt is the manager of Tower Chicken Farm. 

"My supplier lost over 100,000 birds just in the month of August," said Schmidt. 

Add in inflation and shoppers are feeling the pinch in their wallet. According to Auburn University, turkey prices are 25% higher than they were this time last year — with turkey production estimated to decline 6.4% in 2022. The price of a 15 pound turkey is now nearly $21 compared to $15 last year. 

"Right now we're seeing a little bit of a shortage in the bigger sizes," said Scott Podd, co-owner of Ray's Butcher Shop. 

And if you are looking for a big bird for your Thanksgiving table, industry experts warn that the sooner you purchase or order your holiday bird, the better off you'll be adding that last minute shoppers might find themselves out of "cluck." 

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Researchers are on the cusp of rolling out a new vaccine to combat the respiratory syncytial virus amid an increase in cases in recent months.RSV has become the second leading cause of hospitalization, and tens of thousands of people a year die from it. Children under 2 and adults older than 60 are most at risk for serious disease, and a vaccine has been elusive -- until now."It will be a huge, huge breakthrough for us to have an RSV vaccine available," said Dr. James Campbell, professor of pediatrics and the University of Maryland School of Medicine.RELATED: Sinai pediatrician describes ICU availability amid increase in RSV casesModerna released preliminary results of their vaccine for RSV that shows it's more than 80% effective at preventing serious disease in people older than 60. The company is preparing to submit the vaccine to the Food and Drug Administration for approval, which follows submissions from Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline late last year."The Pfizer vaccine, they also relayed results on giving that same vaccine to pregnant women, and then what happens is the antibodies the woman makes, gets passed through the placenta into the baby, and they showed very good protection in the first three months of life," Campbell said.Clinical trials are underway on a vaccine for babies and young children, who are among the high-risk groups for developing complications and dying from RSV.RELATED: Maryland hospitals concerned over surge of children with RSVThese would be the first RSV vaccines approved, which would be a feat because researchers have been working on them since the 1960s. Moderna's version uses the mRNA technology made famous by its COVID-19 vaccine."The reason why they could move so quickly on the COVID vaccine was because they had already been studying this RSV vaccine that we're just learning about now, and they used that same technology, and a lot of the tricks they found from that, in order to develop the COVID vaccine," Campbell said.RSV video playlist below:Campbell cautioned the results in the RSV vaccine study are preliminary and are not yet peer-reviewed, so while promising, he's waiting for the full details."That doesn't take away that this is really exciting news, but I think everyone should be waiting to see what the final, all the data show for this vaccine and the other RSV vaccines," Campbell said.Campbell said researchers are hopeful that some of these vaccines will be approved in time for RSV season in the fall.LINK: Maryland Department of Health website for RSV

A New Hampshire man is recovering from simultaneous cases of the flu and COVID-19.Todd Tracy said he began experiencing blinding headaches, body aches, fever and chills early last week. After a negative at-home COVID-19 test, he went to urgent care, where he was tested for both COVID-19 and the flu.Both came back positive, which he said was a shock to him and to the doctor."She said it can happen," Tracy said. "She was very surprised to see the result, because she said she saw a lot of people every single day for many, many months with COVID happening, and she has not seen a case like this yet."Medical researchers say there have been people infected with COVID-19 and influenza at the same time since the pandemic began. It wasn't much of a problem last winter because the flu was kept in check by people wearing masks and not getting together as much.Experts said having both illnesses at the same time doesn't necessarily mean that someone will get extremely sick. An immune response to one virus could help the body fight off the other virus, but more research is being done.Tracy said he was vaccinated for COVID-19, but he had not yet received a booster and never got the flu shot, both decisions he regrets.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a so-called “twindemic” of COVID-19 and the flu failed to materialize last year, this year's flu season is expected to roar back.

“Because of all the masks and all the precautions, we basically did not have a flu season,” infectious disease expert Dr. David Dodson said of the last flu season.

However, this time around, more cases of the flu are likely to arise.

Dr. Anthony Santella, an infectious disease expert and a professor of health administration policy at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, says this year isn't one to mess around with.

“The flu is incredibly difficult to predict,” he said. “I know everyone wants that crystal ball, 'What's going to happen? When is it going to happen, even outside of COVID?' And that's very challenging.”

He said there are signs and circumstances that point to a far more active, upcoming flu season.

“Children are back at school,” Dr. Santella said. “People are back at work. People are socializing, traveling both domestically and abroad. And that means that those bugs, viruses like what we're talking about, lots of bacteria and other things are circulating.”

Right now, the CDC is tracking confirmed flu cases. Their findings show most of the country is experiencing either a minimal or low number of cases, with the exception of Mississippi, which is seeing a moderate level of flu activity.

Yet, Dr. Santella said that could change as the weather begins to get colder and people spend more time indoors, coupled with COVID fatigue.

“We know the data is pretty clear this year that people feel burdened, they feel frustrated and they feel tired by continuing to maintain those protective health behaviors,” he said.

That is why experts say getting a flu shot by the end of October is so important. The flu vaccines are developed based on the flu strains circulating in other parts of the world.

“This year, they've done things a little bit differently, where instead of having some vaccines that protect against two strains and some that protect against four, all four major vaccine candidates protect against all four strains,” Dr. Santella said.

As for those who have yet to get a COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. Santella said it’s safe to get both together.

“You can get them at the same time,” he said. “There's no harm. There's no counteracting of the products.”

Both of which are vaccines created to help people avoid the worst effects of two deadly viruses.

If there ever was a year to get a flu shot, this one may be it.

Typically, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests people get a flu shot by the end of October.

But the coming flu season may be a bad one. With COVID-19 still complicating things, the experts say you may want to do it even earlier.

"Years ago, we would say you should wait as long as you can to get a shot, but if you get it in the fall, that really should cover you through the season," said Dr. Claudia Hoyen, director of pediatric infection control at UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland. "If people get the chance to go ahead and get their flu shot, whenever they can do it is probably good."

Based on the number of viruses she's seen hitting people early this year, she thinks it doesn't bode well for the flu season. Hoyen's children's hospital has been busier this summer compared to last, treating children for a bigger mix of viruses.

"Once we all took our masks off, the viruses did what they do best and found lots of people to give runny noses to," Hoyen said.

What the flu season will look like this year

The U.S. isn't seeing a lot of influenza yet, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but that could soon change.

To predict what kind of flu numbers the U.S. should expect, experts often look to the Southern hemisphere, where flu season usually starts in June and peaks in August.

"The story is mixed so far," said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Australia, with its tight pandemic restrictions on travelers coming into the country, has had very low flu activity, Schaffner said.

"But China, which has more interactions with the outer world, has had a moderate flu season," Schaffner said.

"So we think we'll have at least a moderate season this year."

Children the 'distribution franchise' for flu

Typically what kicks off the flu season is the start of the school year. With more kids going back to the classroom than last year, unless kids are wearing masks, and everyone else for that matter, there will likely be more cases, he said.

"Children are the 'distribution franchise' for the influenza virus. They're on top of each other and they are not the most hygienic little lovelies, so they spread the flu virus amongst themselves," Schaffner said.

"When kids get infected, they shed the virus for a longer period of time than adults do, so they're really the people who bring the virus into the family and spread it about to the neighbors and, well, everybody," Schaffner said.

Flu by the numbers

In an average season, the U.S. sees between 9 and 45 million cases of the flu each year, according to the CDC.

Last year was no average season. Flu was practically non-existent in the U.S. with only a few thousand cases for the entire year. One child died. For comparison, in 2019-2020, there were 199 flu-related deaths in children and 144 the season before that.

The "twindemic" with a high number of flu and COVID-19 cases that some experts predicted for 2020 thankfully never happened.

What's different this year

What may have helped are the extra precautions people took to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Masks, good hand hygiene, limited in-person school, restricted travel and less interaction with others can help prevent COVID-19 and the spread of the flu.

As the country has opened back up, protection from a flu shot therefore becomes even more essential for just about everyone.

A person can get a flu shot and a COVID-19 vaccine at the same time, so if they haven't been vaccinated against COVID-19 yet, or they need a booster, there are no real medical reasons to space them apart from a flu shot, Schaffner said

"If it's your opportunity to get both, I would say get both," Schaffner said. Of course, children 11 and younger cannot be vaccinated against COVID-19 yet.

Flu shots are already available at pharmacies like CVS and Walgreen's.

An added motivation to get a flu shot

While Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN's Anderson Cooper Monday that the United States could get back to a "degree of normality" by spring of 2022 if the majority unvaccinated in this country get the COVID-19 vaccine, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases noted that getting through the winter "could be complicated" by the flu.

Getting vaccinated could certainly keep those numbers to a minimum and with COVID-19 in circulation, Hoyen said people have an added incentive to get a flu shot this year.

Kids under 12 still can't get a COVID-19 vaccine, and while the disease can be milder in the little ones, Hoyen said hospitals are seeing more children with COVID-19 and another virus.

"Even if we don't think these things are important for ourselves, we should really do them for a child in our lives so that they can get back to a little more normal," Hoyen said.