Will the next Wuhan be in the US?


There’s no question that SARS-CoV-2 jumped from bats to humans. Whether that jump was direct or indirect and whether it occurred in a lab or in the Wuhan wet market is unknown. The Chinese government has been less than completely forthcoming about the epidemiology.

There’s no question that bird flu can jump from birds to humans. Whether that jump is direct or indirect, tracking the virus and infections in livestock, pets and humans is paramount. The Trump/Musk Administration firings at the CDC and censorship of CDC publications is making our government less than completely forthcoming about the epidemiology.

““I think we know very little about what’s happening with the peridomestic animals,” Cardona added. “So, skunks, raccoons, rabbits, they’ve all been experimentally shown to get H5 influenza and be able to transmit it. In addition, we’ve seen many, many cases in foxes around the country. And so, we’ve seen it in bears. We’ve seen it in all kinds of species.”

 

“Cardona said that one area of particular concern was domestic pets, particularly cats. We know that they’re susceptible to H5N1 after outbreaks in farm cats and domestic cats exposed via contaminated raw food. If it becomes clear that spread from cats to humans is a big factor in transmission, that immediately opens up the pool of at-risk people far beyond those who regularly come into contact with cows and poultry.

 

“The fear born out of this latest study is that our current surveillance mechanisms may not be doing a great job of tracking these human cases.

 

“We do not know the extent of this outbreak in the US. There are clearly infections happening that we’re missing,” Emory University virologist Seema Lakdawala told the New York Times.

 

“The need for better monitoring was echoed in the CDC’s conclusion to the study: “These findings suggest the possible benefit of systematic surveillance for rapid identification of HPAI A(H5) virus in dairy cattle, milk, and humans who are exposed to cattle to ensure appropriate hazard assessments.”

 

“As the situation continues to develop, it’s important to remember that if this virus did reach pandemic levels, it would not be a carbon copy of the situation we saw with COVID-19.

 

“We're in a very different spot with avian flu,” Dr Robert Murphy, executive director of the Robert J. Havey Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University, told IFLScience.

“We [have] to support the public health people that are working on the vaccines, better treatments and better surveillance.”

Actually, thanks to the Trump/Musk Administration, we have fewer public health people working on vaccines, treatments and surveillance and a Secretary of HSS who is openly hostile to vaccines.

https://www.iflscience.com/h5n1-bird-flu-spreading-silently-in-us-as-cdc-data-reveals-unknown-infections-in-vets-78052?fbclid=IwY2xjawIewtRleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHYqSZbootpx5h9epe_u8z402WVsHOzIwopxVWb1Sc_M-AnoWieJo6egPUw_aem_isvm_BO4J-xVwKYD0ThkWQ

 

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