“THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO STEP UP ITS RESPONSE TO BIRD FLU”

By Michaela Simoneau, Sophia Hirshfield, and Maclane Speer

“Since the turn of the century, every presidential administration has highlighted gaps in U.S. public health capabilities, and every Congress has left them underfunded. The H5N1 outbreak has revealed the resulting and dangerous shortcomings in U.S. pandemic preparedness: lagging data, incomplete surveillance, sluggish coordination, considerable mistrust, and insufficient planning and stockpiling of vaccines and therapies. That poor performance cuts across political parties, the federal interagency, and state leadership. Multiple players have sought to downplay the threat: the dairy industry fears further economic setbacks, state leaders are wary of federal intervention, and the Biden administration did not want to aggravate relations during the 2024 election cycle.”

to read the full article go to
https://features.csis.org/US-bird-flu-response/

“Why scientists say we are fighting H5N1 bird flu with one hand tied behind our backs”
By Susanne Rust and Karen Kaplan
“Gain-of-function research became controversial during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But without it, “we’re just flying in the dark” when it comes to H5N1, said Felicia Goodrum, a molecular virologist at the University of Arizona.
But when, where and how that could come to pass is hard to predict — in part, some researchers say, because of guardrails the federal government has placed around gain-of-function research.
The term describes experiments that seek to understand a virus’ potential to adapt to new hosts, spread more easily, survive longer in the environment and cause those infected to become sicker. Though many scientists view the approach as a critical tool for conducting biological research, other experts have long complained that it’s unacceptably risky — a reputation exacerbated by persistent speculation that the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic was created in gain-of-function experiments in a laboratory in Wuhan, China.”
to read the full article go
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-12-24/restrictions-on-gain-of-function-research-have-hobbled-h5n1-bird-flu-fight

“MPOX: Five Ways Children are More at Risk from the Virus”
https://www.savethechildren.org/us/charity-stories/mpox-virus-ways-children-are-at-risk

“Mpox: Belgium Detects First Case Of Clade 1b Strain; WHO Tags It As ‘Especially Concerning’”
https://www.thehealthsite.com/news/mpox-belgium-detects-first-case-of-clade-1b-strain-who-tags-it-as-especially-concerning-1166586/

“Louisiana forbids public health workers from promoting COVID, flu and mpox shots”
By Rosemary Westwood
“A group of high-level managers at the Louisiana Department of Health walked into a Nov. 14 meeting in Baton Rouge expecting to talk about outreach and community events.
Instead, they were told by an assistant secretary in the department and another official that department leadership had a new policy: Advertising or otherwise promoting the COVID, influenza or mpox vaccines, an established practice there — and at most other public health entities in the U.S. — must stop.”