Bird Flu? Of course it did, that's what the wings are for!

Politics & News
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https://twitter.com/michaelmina_lab/status/1793374949832577226

Second human case of H5N1 in the U.S. linked to apparently widespread infections in dairy cows. There’s a 95+% chance this virus won’t kill tens of millions of people, so not worth taking seriously yet, but I thought it would be useful to have a thread for news and such.

There seems to be a much laxer attitude towards cows with bird flu than birds with bird flu. AIUI, they basically do a localized chicken genocide when they detect it in birds, but for cows…

The US Department of Agriculture said it has identified spread between cows within the same herd and between dairies associated with cattle movements.

When treated, sick cows can recover “with little to no associated mortality,” the department said in a statement in late April.

I’m happy the cows are doing well, but having bird flu permanently established in U.S. livestock seems like extremely bad news.

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This is actually a more interesting detail than you might think; bird flu should be much more lethal in cows than in birds but it’s the other way around? A quick dive suggests it originated in ducks, which only seem to get mild symptoms.

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If only there was a politician with the guts to make the tough decisions

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Flying back to China next Thursday. I missed the party last time, maybe I’ll be just in time for this one.