A mischievous emu affectionately named "Emmanuel Todd Lopez" once elicited laughter from amused TikTok viewers for his tomfoolery.
Now the beloved bird is eliciting sympathy after battling the avian flu.
Emmanual had become a viral sensation from a video in which the animal repeatedly interrupted TikToker Taylor Blake, who was trying to film an educational video from her family's Knuckle Bump Farms in Florida, by pecking at her phone.
"Emmanuel woke up and chose violence," read the caption for the video of the bird's frequent antics.
The clip posted in July wound up having over 1.3 million likes and 11.7K comments.
On October 15, Blake posted a series of tweets updating followers on emu's condition after he and many of the other animals on Blake's family farm were stricken by the rampant virus.
"Hi friends. I’ve tried countless times to write this post, but it’s been extremely difficult for me."
"We had a massive tragedy strike the farm, and I have been doing my best to wrap my head around it."
Experts said the recent avian flu outbreak that has been spreading across the US in recent months was the most serious of its kind since 2015, according to the Washington Post.
Blake said she took the necessary time to "grieve as much as possible" after many of the animals on the farm became sick and succumbed to the illness.
However, she said it was difficult to grieve "when so many lives depend on you."
Blake said the farm had been attacked by wild Egyptian Geese that were swooping down and infecting the domesticated farm animals with avian influenza.
Attempts to chase them off proved futile as many as many as 50 of them would return to attack in the middle of the night.
Blake said she lost over 50 birds in just three days and was "trying to wrap my head around it."
"We thought we were out of the woods when Emmanual unexpectedly went down this past Wednesday," she said.
While the veterinarian managed to "sedate and stabilize” Emmanuel, Blake was told the 120-pound bird would have a long road to recovery.
Blake continued:
"I will do anything and go into any amount of debt to save his life. My vet came out and was able to sedate and stabilize him until I could find an avian specialist."
"I have been treating him around the clock since Wednesday."
@hiitaylorblake/Twitter
"Currently, he is stable. His neurological symptoms have subsided but he still won’t eat or drink on his own."
"I am hand feeding him & giving him subcutaneous fluids every 2hrs around the clock."
@hiitaylorblake/Twitter
@hiitaylorblake/Twitter
Blake mentioned that immunizing the birds against avian influenza is nearly impossible given the rapid mutation of the virus.
She did mention that Florida state officials believe the stagnant water left over in the wake of Hurricane Ian may be a factor in this year's strain that is wreaking havoc and causing heartbreak so close to home.
Blake crafted a sling for Emmanuel to start physical therapy as the animal sustained nerve damage in his foot and leg after getting infected.
Meanwhile, there was an outpouring of love and support for Blake and Emmanuel online.
Fortunately, it appears progress has been made.
“When I did my 6am checkin with Emmanuel, I had him positioned lying down facing the gate to his stall,” she tweeted on Sunday morning.
“Just went back to do physical therapy with him and he was sitting up, completely turned around in the opposite direction."
"HE REPOSITIONED HIMSELF, BY HIMSELF! This is huge!”
Hopefully, Emmanual will be up to his shenanigans again in no time.
@IrnaEnglish/X
