I wonder what is going on with the #BirdsArentReal insta account. They have changed their account profile to Birds Are Real and have recently posted “Hey all— we were just joking around. Birds are real, and their existence is one of the many miracles of our universe.”. I wonder if this has anything to do with the recent fear of #H5N1 ?
In the U.S, at least 23 cats have been infected with H5N1 bird flu & 10 have died. Cats are believed to be highly vulnerable to this strain of bird flu. Don’t let your cats drink unpasteurized milk!:)
"Bird flu had been circulating in dairy cows for at least 4 months before it was detected. The USG cannot afford to repeat the mistakes made at the onset of the COVID pandemic.
The US Gov should incentivize farmers to test their livestock, environment & ppl working in proximity. Without major incentives - esp. FIN so farmers don't fear for their livelihood if #H5N1 is detected, we have no chance of success." https://time.com/6976402/bird-flu-next-pandemic-testing/
#H5N1 spreading rapidly among cows +infecting skunks, mountain lions & red foxes.
Yet as the highly contagious avian flu affects mammals across the US, just 1 human case has been reported so far.
But we could be missing cases with limited surveillance from states & dairy farms. In a test for pandemic preparedness "We're not going to be ready," one epidemiologist told me🚨.
"We need to do much better to stop this outbreak & detecting future ones."
-Dr Bright
Canada federal gov will stop sending rapid tests to provinces, the excuse being demand isn't high - although it's been the provinces themselves throttling access
A pro-active Gov would realize they can take on the testing challenge, over-ride denial public health, and provide better kits that test for Covid, RSV and influenza at once, and the proper information: isolate, stay home when sick, wear a proper mask - issue through Fed offices, and by mail
Who could have guessed that forcing cows to eat bird poo would result in spreading pathogens ?
Experts fear that H5N1, which was only first detected in cows a few weeks ago, may have been transmitted through a type of cattle feed called “poultry litter” – a mix of poultry excreta, spilled feed, feathers, and other waste scraped from the floors of industrial chicken and turkey production plants.
After 10 months off for my science journalism fellowship at MIT I’m jumping back into infectious disease reporting and uh boy I’m not gonna be bored am I?!
Here's a first story on #h5n1 in cows (and I'll try to write a thread later):
My timeline is currently a mix of the #MetGala, the unfolding escalation of genocide in #Rafah, images of floodings and worsening climate catastrophe, news of the incoming #H5N1 crisis and the current #Covid public health crisis, and the fascist police state cracking down on principled students in the imperial core.
So yeah.
Pretty dystopian.
We have now achieved Hunger Games levels of reality.
We're screwed: "White House chief of staff Jeff Zients has taken a personal interest in the bird flu response." He is worried about "the damage another national crisis would do to the American psyche and Biden’s political standing." Zients previously handled Biden's Covid response. #covid#H5N1 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/06/bird-flu-dairy-farms-cdc-00156119