“We Asked an Expert: Will Bird Flu Be the Next Pandemic?”
By Joe Banks.
“So we could attempt an organized lockdown, like what we’ve experienced or seen around the world. It would hurt, but many would accept it… kind of. The problem is it wouldn’t necessarily protect the healthcare workers and others in similarly vital jobs.
So we need to do better. We need to get ready to protect everyone, especially the people who keep the lights on, keep the food moving, make the insulin and bring it to you. It’s maybe 10 percent of the world’s population. If they have good masks—disposable respirators, or elastomeric ones, like the ones you use for painting—many important things will work. It’s not about being fully prepared for everything. It’s about making the minimum investment that will give us the most peace of mind. We look the monster in the eye, count its teeth, look at our hammer, and get building the protections.”
to read the full article go to
https://www.vice.com/en/article/ask-expert-will-bird-flu-be-the-next-pandemic/
“Winging it: How government agencies are fighting bird flu”
By Justin Sweitzer
“Since it emerged in Pennsylvania in 2022, highly pathogenic avian influenza – also known as HPAI, H5N1 or bird flu – has been detected in wild and commercial flocks throughout the state, bringing about concerns that H5N1 could damage the state’s agricultural economy.
It’s also mobilized public health leaders, who say that while avian influenza’s risk to humans is low right now, the virus is worth monitoring for its pandemic potential.
Officials have been actively monitoring the spread of bird flu in Pennsylvania since the initial case was detected at a commercial poultry farm in Lancaster County in April 2022. Following the first positive tests, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture established quarantine zones around impacted farms, implemented strict biosecurity measures and euthanized infected birds.”
“Still, as things stand right now, it would likely take more mutations for the virus to have a greater impact on humans. “We don’t even know if it jumps from animals to humans, if it’s really gonna go human-to-human,” Naktin said. “So that’s a whole other step, mutation-wise, that has to occur before we have that situation.””
to read the full article go to
https://www.cityandstatepa.com/policy/2025/04/winging-it-how-government-agencies-are-fighting-bird-flu/404849/
“Bird flu in cows shows no signs of adapting to humans — yet”
By Tina Hesman Saey
“When traces of H5N1 bird flu showed up in cow’s milk last year, it raised fears that the virus could become more infectious to humans. So far, that hasn’t happened, virologist Richard Webby reported April 23 at the World Vaccine Congress Washington.”
“In cow mammary glands, the virus reaches levels that are about as high as scientists can achieve in a lab. “This is ‘kid in a candy store’ if you’re a virus in the udders of these cows,” said Webby, who also directs a World Health Organization center for monitoring influenza in birds and animals. That giddy growth might work to humans’ advantage. “Within the mammary gland of the cow, these H5N1 [viruses] grow so well in there, there’s no real pressure on them to change” to grab the human receptor. “But that could change tomorrow.””
to read the full article go to
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/h5n1-bird-flu-cows-not-adapting-humans
“The FDA Is Pausing Bird Flu Milk Testing After More Than 20,000 HHS Job Cuts”
By Stacey Leasca
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is suspending its milk testing program, which has been in place since late 2024, to ensure the safety of the nation’s fluid milk supply.
““This testing strategy is a critical part of our ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety of individuals and communities nationwide,” then-HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra shared in a statement at the time. “Our primary responsibility at HHS is to protect public health and the safety of the food supply, and we continue to work closely with USDA and all stakeholders on continued testing for H5N1 in retail milk and dairy samples from across the country to ensure the safety of the commercial pasteurized milk supply. We will continue this work with USDA for as long and as far as necessary.””
to read the full article go to
https://www.foodandwine.com/fda-suspends-milk-quality-testing-11720278
“West Nile bird testing suspended in Illinois to prevent bird flu spread”
By Molly Sweeney and Gabriella Morando
“With bird flu cases rising in the United States, the Illinois Department of Public Health is taking steps that will impact how Illinois health departments track a different disease.
Usually, County Health Departments in Illinois begin collecting dead birds and testing them for West Nile Virus between May and October. This year however, the ongoing spread of bird flu has put that on pause.”
““It is on hold for 2025,” Ecker said. “We don’t know about 2026 yet. I guess it’s all going to depend on how serious the bird flu gets or if it backs off any.””
to read the full article go to
https://www.wcia.com/news/health-news/west-nile-bird-testing-suspended-in-illinois-to-prevent-bird-flu-spread/
“New agreement geared toward universal avian flu vaccine”
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/new-agreement-geared-toward-universal-avian-flu-vaccine
California offering $25 gift cards to encourage bird flu testing
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bird-flu-testing-gift-cards-california-cdc/