Avian flu-stricken Emmanuel the emu’s ailing health IMPROVES enough for him to drink water

Emmanuel the emu – who is fighting for his life amid a deadly outbreak of avian flu that has killed most of the birds on his farm – saw some progress Sunday, drinking water on his own for the first time since he got sick.

The emu – who went viral on social media earlier this year after pecking his owner’s phone as she filmed hilarious videos about farming – was shown sipping from a green bucket while held in a sling.

Emmanuel’s caretaker Taylor Blake can be heard chuckling in joy at the bird’s ability to drink on his own again, despite facing an illness that kills almost all birds infected by it. 

She wrote on Twitter Sunday: ‘EMMANUEL JUST DRANK WATER BY HIMSELF FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE BECOMING ILL. Please keep the prayers coming!’

Blake also thanked her girlfriend, Kristian Haggerty, for her support during Emmanuel’s time of need in a tweet.

Haggerty, in her own tweet, wrote: ‘IM STILL IN TEARS. This is a massive MASSIVE step!!! Prayers are being answered. Thank you everyone.’

The bird is able to lift his head and move around a little bit from the comfort of his sling.

Blake revealed his dire condition Saturday, just three months after the pair had flown to stardom on TikTok.

The caretaker, whose family owns Knuckle Bump Farms in South Florida, said the bird is experiencing nerve damage and cannot eat or drink on his own after contracting the disease, and blamed the outbreak on wild geese that invade the farm nightly.

Desperate to save her feathered friend, the farmer said she is hand-feeding him all his food, sleeping less than an hour a day, and providing him with nourishment through subcutaneous fluids administered every two hours around the clock. 

She further revealed that she had been in contact with Florida officials who reportedly told her told her that stagnant water puddles left behind by Hurricane Ian late last month also spurred the outbreak, and had ‘made the virus run rampant.’  

The sudden spread has seen the 29-year-old content creator’s stable of more than 50 birds almost completely wiped out in a matter of three days – leaving behind only the lovable Emmanuel and his stablemate Rico the swan.

The roughly 5-foot-8, 120-pound emu faces ‘a long road ahead’ to recovery, Blake said, but insists that the lovable animal – who has been left temporarily unable to walk because of his affliction – is a ‘fighter.’ 

‘We lost every single chicken and duck on our farm. We lost all of our geese. We lost our 2 female black swans.

‘We lost both of our turkeys,’ Blake tweeted to her 874,000 followers on Sunday, roughly a week after the outbreak surfaced.

She revealed: ‘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.’

The post was accompanied by a heartbreaking photo of a lethargic Emmanuel, with the once lively animal lying down on the farm floor as Blake carefully cradles his head against hers.

‘I am running on about 4hrs of sleep in 4 days bc all that matters to me is saving him,’ the farmer added in another post that showed photos of her and family members working on the bird – who at the moment, Blake said, remains stable. 

‘Currently, he is stable. His neurological symptoms have subsided but he still won’t eat or drink on his own,’ she said, adding, ‘I am hand feeding him & giving him subcutaneous fluids every 2hrs around the clock.’

Another post showed the internet star appear slightly shaken over her companion’s condition, which quickly deteriorated following the deaths of her dozens of other emus, swans, and turkeys.

‘I am trying my best to remain hopeful, tap into my unwavering faith, and trust that God is in control,’ Blake wrote in a post accompanied by a picture of her sharing a heartfelt moment with the visibly sick bird. 

Remaining hopeful, however, Blake added: ‘I am also doing my best to remain thankful in the face of loss, for I have so much to be grateful for.’ 

Blake also shared a heartbreaking photo of her snuggling up against the exotic bird – which is endemic to Australia – on the floor of her family’s barn, kissing him as he loving gazes back at her.

‘I love you so much, Emmanuel,’ the caption for the Sunday post reads. 

Emmanuel has more than 2 million fans on social media – achieved largely thanks to his impromptu attacks on his partner’s cellphone – and many have been wishing for words of encouragement as the bird continues to fight the sickness, which has left him with severe nerve damage in his right leg.

Blake, meanwhile, said she has been tending to him around the clock since Wednesday, with the help of a vet who has sedated and stabilized him. 

‘He went down in the middle of the night and we didn’t know until the next morning,’ Blake wrote of how Emmanuel came down with the contagious disease.

She revealed: ‘He spent hours lying on one side and it’s caused some damage.’

The Florida content creator went on to post more photos showing the farm’s efforts to nurse the ailing emu back to health.

The images show the farmhands and animal workers tending to the bird while helping him to stand with a homemade sling.

Blake said she is ‘dedicated’ to ensuring that Emmanuel survives this malady, asserting that with the apparatus, the bird could ‘start physical therapy.’ 

‘I will do anything and go into any amount of debt to save his life,’ she wrote. 

The United States, meanwhile, is in the midst of a months-long avian influenza outbreak that experts have said is the worst worldwide since 2015, when a ‘highly pathogenic’ strain of the disease infected more than 49 million birds. 

At the time, the Department of Agriculture called it ‘the most costly animal health emergency’ in its history – with the latest outbreak currently affecting 47 million farmed birds, nearly the same as in the 2014-15 season. 

Blake said she suspects the outbreak at the farm was spread by wild Egyptian geese, a type of aquatic bird known as waterfowl, who regularly infiltrate the family farm ‘under the cover of darkness.’

She is adamant they spread the disease among the domesticated birds there. 

‘The virus hit them extremely hard and very quickly,’ Blake wrote on Twitter of the extent of her family’s loss, which saw the lives of ‘every single’ chicken, duck, goose, swan, and turkey snuffed out. 

With that said, officials apparently told the farmer that water dispersed all over the state as a result of Hurricane Ian may have contributed to the spread. 

The virus – known scientifically as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) – has so far forced poultry farmers in 36 US states to kill flocks and close operations, threatening further disruptions with a resurgence of cases in September. 

If transmitted to humans, the virus has a fatality rate of 50 percent. 

Emmanuel’s videos, meanwhile, have reached millions of people on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, with the bird for the past few months becoming an internet sensation.  

Blake and a puppet of Emmanuel were featured on ‘The Tonight Show’ in July, and both him and Blake regularly send out Cameo videos to fans to see their antics.

The farm has even begun to sell merchandise with the emu’s face on it. 

In the meantime, Blake has expressed gratitude that despite losing most of her flock, Emmanuel thankfully, calling the plucky bird her ‘best friend.’

‘I have so much gratitude in my heart that Emmanuel is still alive. That he is fighting,’ Blake wrote, writing, ‘my best friend is making a comeback. 

‘I am going to be ok, we are going to be ok!’