It's an evolving situation. Right now, the mainstream news media is desperately trying to catch up on a story that's been happening for two years now. It would be funny if so many lives weren't at stake. The public reaction? Look at the discourse: Is it in pasteurized milk? Is it in hamburgers? Is it in hot wings? Do we have a vaccine? Does it work? Is there enough?
Apparently, the most recent official word is that 1 in 5 milk samples is now testing positive for avian flu, but pasteurization is killing it. Officials are trying to spin this as a good thing.
Well, okay...
Well, okay...
Let's save ourselves some time:
First off, assume bird flu is airborne. Why? Because that's what viruses do. They spread through the air. You can thank aerosol scientists and environmental engineers like Linsey Marr for bringing that one to everyone's attention. I've spent the last two years learning a lot from engineers and scientists who study how germs move through the air. Maybe you did, too.
By the time the CDC or the WHO confirms airborne spread of bird flu, it's going to be far too late for millions and millions of people. It's really not fear-mongering, and it's not that big of a deal, to just assume we're dealing with an airborne virus and wear a decent mask. Not a cloth mask. Not a surgical mask. An FFP2 or FFP3 mask like the 3M Aura or Flo Mask. (No, I'm not making commissions off those. They're just examples of comfortable, effective masks.)
Second, understand why humans haven't been spreading bird flu (yet). It's not luck, magic, or a positive attitude.
There's one or two proteins standing between us and doom. These proteins protect humans from infection. An article in Nature talks about our natural defenses against strains of avian flu, and how they eventually fail. Scientists have a lot of evidence telling us the 1918 pandemic was caused by an avian flu virus that evolved resistance to the BTN3A3 AND MX1 proteins. Those are the only two protections we have, and they eventually give out.
This bird flu isn't new. We've been watching H5N1 decimate wild bird populations for two solid years now. It has wrecked the poultry industry. We've watched it cause bad outbreaks in several other mammal populations, from seals to minks. The public only cares now because it's going to impact their precious milk supply.
So:
Assume that bird flu will evolve to spread among humans. Ignore all the hemming and hawing from scientists that it "may" or "might" happen or "hopefully won't happen."
It has already happened, plenty of times. Once an avian flu learns how to jump to mammals, it's not going to decide it's happy with cows and retire on a dairy farm. If we've learned anything about diseases, it's that they're incredibly opportunistic. This bird flu is trying to jump to people. It's already practicing. Its grandparents have already jumped to humans and caused pandemics. It would be stupid to sit around hoping it doesn't happen.
Assume there will be a problem with the vaccine. Assume it either won't work against the particular mutated version that starts spreading, or there won't be enough, or that our government will botch the rollout. We've seen this movie before. You can change the party in power. It doesn't matter. They're all incompetent. And they don't care about us.
If you want to stay safe, just quit drinking milk if you can. Give up dairy products. You know someone is going to get sick and die from tainted milk or cheese before the alarms go off, and that someone could be you. My family switched to oat milk and vegan cheese years ago, for a range of reasons.
We don't miss dairy.
If you really want to stay safe, just wear an N95 mask (or better) in public. Get over your fear of masks. Most of you already know this part, but most of your friends and family have willed themselves into complete ignorance here. That's gonna have to change.
by Jessica Wildfire, Ok Doomer | Read more:
Image: CDC on Unsplash[ed. See also: Cats suffer H5N1 brain infections, blindness, death after drinking raw milk (Ars Technica):]
"In a study published today in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, researchers in Iowa, Texas, and Kansas found that the cats had H5N1 not just in their lungs but also in their brains, hearts, and eyes. The findings are similar to those seen in cats that were experimentally infected with H5N1, aka highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI). But, on the Texas dairy farm, they present an ominous warning of the potential for transmission of this dangerous and evolving virus. (...)
The early outbreak data from the Texas farm suggests the virus is getting better and better at jumping to mammals, and data from elsewhere shows the virus is spreading widely in its newest host. On March 25, the US Department of Agriculture confirmed the presence of H5N1 in a dairy herd in Texas, marking the first time H5N1 had ever been known to cross over to cows. Since then, the USDA has tallied infections in at least 34 herds in nine states: Texas, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Idaho, Ohio, South Dakota, North Carolina, and Colorado.
The Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, has detected genetic traces of H5N1 in roughly 20 percent of commercial milk samples. While commercial milk is still considered safe—pasteurization is expected to destroy the virus and early testing by the FDA and other federal scientists confirms that expectation—the finding suggests yet wider spread of the virus among the country's milk-producing cows.
Cows are only the latest addition to H5N1's surprisingly broad host range. Amid a global outbreak over the past several years that has devastated wild bird populations and poultry farms, researchers have documented unexpected and often deadly outbreaks in mammals. Since 2022, the USDA has found H5N1 in over 200 mammals, from big cats in zoos to harbor seals, mountain lions, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, polar bears, black bears, foxes, and bottlenose dolphins.
"The recurring nature of global HPAI H5N1 virus outbreaks and detection of spillover events in a broad host range is concerning and suggests increasing virus adaptation in mammals," the authors wrote. "Surveillance of HPAI viruses in domestic production animals, including cattle, is needed to elucidate influenza virus evolution and ecology and prevent cross-species transmission."
The early outbreak data from the Texas farm suggests the virus is getting better and better at jumping to mammals, and data from elsewhere shows the virus is spreading widely in its newest host. On March 25, the US Department of Agriculture confirmed the presence of H5N1 in a dairy herd in Texas, marking the first time H5N1 had ever been known to cross over to cows. Since then, the USDA has tallied infections in at least 34 herds in nine states: Texas, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Idaho, Ohio, South Dakota, North Carolina, and Colorado.
The Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, has detected genetic traces of H5N1 in roughly 20 percent of commercial milk samples. While commercial milk is still considered safe—pasteurization is expected to destroy the virus and early testing by the FDA and other federal scientists confirms that expectation—the finding suggests yet wider spread of the virus among the country's milk-producing cows.
Cows are only the latest addition to H5N1's surprisingly broad host range. Amid a global outbreak over the past several years that has devastated wild bird populations and poultry farms, researchers have documented unexpected and often deadly outbreaks in mammals. Since 2022, the USDA has found H5N1 in over 200 mammals, from big cats in zoos to harbor seals, mountain lions, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, polar bears, black bears, foxes, and bottlenose dolphins.
"The recurring nature of global HPAI H5N1 virus outbreaks and detection of spillover events in a broad host range is concerning and suggests increasing virus adaptation in mammals," the authors wrote. "Surveillance of HPAI viruses in domestic production animals, including cattle, is needed to elucidate influenza virus evolution and ecology and prevent cross-species transmission."
