“Here’s why bird flu fears are intensifying”
by Will Stone
“But scientists are clear-eyed about the risk ahead.
With reservoirs of virus persisting in dairy cattle, poultry and wild birds, there are ample opportunities for spillover into humans. Meanwhile, the virus is turning up in raw milk on store shelves. And flu season is raising the troubling prospect that bird flu could commingle with seasonal influenza.
“This virus is not so easy to get rid of,” says Dr. Jürgen Richt, a veterinary microbiologist at Kansas State University. “We will have to live with it for some years to come.““
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https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/27/nx-s1-5208964/heres-why-bird-flu-fears-are-intensifying
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“I Ran Operation Warp Speed. I’m Concerned About Bird Flu”
By David A. Kessler
“No one knows how many mutations will be required to set off human-to-human respiratory spread. That could require many mutations and may never happen. But we could also be just two or three mutations away. If the virus begins to transmit efficiently among humans, it will be very difficult to contain, according to the Johns Hopkins assessment, and “the likelihood of a pandemic is very high.”
The incoming Trump administration needs to be prepared.”
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https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/27/nx-s1-5208964/heres-why-bird-flu-fears-are-intensifying
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America’s Alarming Bird-Flu Strategy: Hope for the Best
“The USDA, CDC, and FDA can all credibly claim that they should be leading the response, but it doesn’t seem like any one organization has particularly taken up the mantle as the one in charge. USDA regulates agriculture; CDC is concerned about the spillover risk to human health; the FDA regulates milk. And they’ve all been involved, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find one organization that would say they are running lead on this — that they are the H5 influenza czar overseeing and coordinating all aspects of the response.”
to read the full article go to
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/is-bird-flu-inching-closer-to-becoming-a-pandemic.html