Viral internet sensation Emmanuel the emu is gravely ill and fighting for his life after an aggressive bout of avian flu infected his farm.
Emmanuel lives at Knuckle Bump Farms in south Florida and is cared for by Taylor Blake, who has racked up 2.4 million followers on TikTok thanks to Emmanuel’s cheeky antics.
The big ball of feathers often interrupts Taylor’s videos by pecking her camera to the floor and social media has fallen in love with Emmanuel’s hilarious attitude.
Taylor shared the famous emu's grim condition on social media only three months after Emmanuel found himself a suddenly-viral TikTok star.
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Taylor believes the flu was brought to the farm by the wild that overrun her rural property after nightfall.
"We lost every single chicken and duck on our farm. We lost all of our geese. We lost our two female black swans. We lost both of our turkeys," she said on Twitter to her 886,000 followers.
She shared the news roughly a week after the outbreak surfaced at Knuckle Bump.
She added: "We lost 50 plus birds in three days. I am still trying to wrap my head around it."
Taylor said she thought the birds on her south Florida farm were out of the woods when 'Emmanuel unexpectedly went down this past Wednesday'.
Bird flu is highly contagious and deadly, and can be passed from bird to human.
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Despite this, Taylor has refused to leave Emmanuel's side.
"I am running on about four hours of sleep in four days because all that matters to me is saving him," she said.
Emmanuel is currently stable and his neurological symptoms have now subsided.
Taylor revealed that, despite his improvements, he still won’t eat on his own.
However, the bird has started drinking water by himself, which is a positive sign for his recovery.
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Taylor is still hand feeding him, watering him, and watching him like a hawk at all hours.
"I am hand feeding him and giving him subcutaneous fluids every two hours around the clock," she wrote.
"I am trying my best to remain hopeful, tap into my unwavering faith, and trust that God is in control. I am also doing my best to remain thankful in the face of loss, for I have so much to be grateful for."
In one of her latest videos uploaded to Twitter, Taylor can be seen dotting the bird's head with loving kisses.
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The caption for the post read: "I love you so much, Emmanuel."
Get well soon, Emmanuel!
Rachel Lang