“Bird Flu Is Raising Red Flags Among Health Officials”
By Public Health On Call
“In this Q&A, adapted from the January 14 episode of Public Health On Call, Stephanie Desmon speaks with Meghan Davis, DVM, PhD ’12, MPH ’08, associate professor in Environmental Health and Engineering, and Andrew Pekosz, PhD, professor in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, about why it’s time to double down on efforts to limit H5N1 transmission among cattle and birds, concerns about cats and other mammals, and how to prevent the virus from gaining a foothold in humans.”
to read the full article go to
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/bird-flu-is-raising-red-flags-among-health-officials
“How Worried to Be About Bird Flu”
By Lora Kelley
“Lora Kelley: We last spoke in April, after a dairy worker became infected with bird flu. At the time, you described your level of concern about bird flu as “medium.” How would you describe your level of worry now?
Katherine J. Wu: At this point, I would upgrade it to “medium-plus.” I don’t think I will upgrade to “high” unless we start to see strong evidence of human-to-human transmission. I am not ruling out that possibility, but we aren’t there yet.”
to read the full article go to
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2025/01/how-worried-to-be-about-bird-flu/681331/
“CDC tests confirm another H5N1 case from California”
By Lisa Schnirring
“The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed another human H5N1 avian flu case in California, which likely reflects follow-up testing of a presumed positive involving a San Francisco child. The latest confirmation puts the national total since early 2024 to 67 cases, of which 38 are from California.”
to read the full article go to
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/cdc-tests-confirm-another-h5n1-case-california
“Why not making bird flu vaccines available now is a mistake”
By Leana S. Wen
“The good news is that the same companies that made those original vaccines have updated them and already manufactured about 5 million doses of the updated vaccines, and that the administration has contracted with them to produce another 5 million by this spring. Ten million shots of a two-dose vaccine won’t come close to meeting demand if bird flu became a pandemic, but in that horrific situation, the virus likely will have evolved further, and a new vaccine would have to be developed anyway. The initial 10 million can at least be used for those at highest risk.”
to read the full article go to
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/01/16/biden-bird-flu-vaccine-fda/
“How would RFK Jr. handle bird flu? His record on vaccines has experts on edge”
By Will Stone
“The incoming Trump administration will have to prepare for this risk. As H5N1 spills into more people and animals, scientists warn it could evolve to better infect humans and become more dangerous.
Trump and his picks to helm federal health agencies have largely been silent on bird flu. The messaging so far — and the track record of those Trump has chosen to oversee a potential bird flu crisis — is “worrisome,” says Dr. Andrew Pavia, professor of medicine at the University of Utah who’s worked on influenza pandemic preparedness for more than two decades.”
to read the full article go to
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/01/16/nx-s1-5254733/trump-cabinet-picks-rfk-bird-flu