Avian Flu and You

Avian flu has jumped to cows and a person, which is a little bit bigger deal than just avoiding soft boiled eggs. 

H5N1 was contracted by someone in Texas who was in contact with dairy cattle. His only symptom is eye inflammation, and he's doing fine on Tamiflu. He was isolated, and it doesn't appear to have spread further. In cows, the virus doesn't kill them, but lowers milk production, and means we should really avoid non-pasteurized milk. BUT it's a concern that cows are getting it; they're not the type of animal typically expected to catch this virus. And now baby goats are getting it and dying from it!! This is the first time goats have contracted the virus, and they seem less equipped to fight it off. 

A big problem is that it's virtually impossible to keep wild birds out of barns or away from animals and feed. 

"Because we known a little bit about how this virus acts, we also need to be watching cats and other wildlife that are frequently found around livestock facilities for any illnesses or unexplained deaths. . . . The risk to human health is low due to milk pasteurization, which inactivates bacteria and viruses."

From Dr. Deepti Gurdasani:

"Mammal-to-mammal transmission has been suspected for a while, but not confirmed. If sequencing confirms this, it would be a pretty worrying step in the evolution of the virus. If mammal-to-mammal transmission can occur, that raises the possibility of the potential of human to human transmission. H5N1 is a highly pathogenic virus - associated with a high mortality rate. Over the past year, it's developed mutations that seem to result in neurotropism [able to access and affect the brain]. Over the past year, mammals and birds affected have shown neurological symptoms associated with an extremely high mortality rate. Spillover into humans, with the potential ability to transmit between humans, would be a very concerning step. It's worth noting that these cows were initially tested for pretty 'mild' symptoms - reduction in milk production and mild flu symptoms, and as more farms have been tested, more infection has emerged.This is very likely just the tip of the iceberg because there's probably not been widespread testing for avian influenza in farms as this wouldn't have been necessarily thought of, given this normally doesn't affect cows. The lack of precautions taken, even to quarantine infected cows, is worrying given the high pathogenicity of the virus and the very real risk of spillover into humans. . . . Epiwatch, our open-source intelligence based global surveillance platform led by Raina MacIntyre has been monitoring Avian Influenza outbreaks across the world for a while - having been concerned about its potential as an evolving public health threat."

So be aware, but people are on this, and we don't need to let it affect how most of us live much beyond what we eat - and I love runny eggs. BUT wearing a mask around livestock might not be a bad idea, and it will prevent so many other illnesses as well. 

Here's a cute little poem from Guiness Pig:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Birds are airborne
And so is bird flu

Now mammals can get it 
And spread it, it's true
So please wear a mask
'Cause we're mammals too.

By the way, SARS is airborne
(That's Covid to you)
It's finally confirmed
According to WHO
So are measles and Tuberculosis too
Varicella, rotavirus, and every other flu.

You can make a difference
Here's what you can do:
Mask up to save others
Mask up to save you.

ETA: Hold the phone!! Eric Feigl-Ding just posted:

"Pasteurization of mild action may NOT neutralize all viruses sufficiently to stop infectivity--'many viruses cannot'. It seems that fat globules in whole milk and 2% fat milk can protect viruses from high temperature pasteurization (dairy research shows for foot and mouth disease virus)- and show residual infectivity of the virus after pasteurization. My trusted colleague points out that the USDA and CDC has presented ZERO EVIDENCE avian flu cannot survive pasteurization in whole/2% fat milk. He warns that until such evidence is shown, we need to be careful of USDA/CDC's claims that virus in milk can 'reliably' be neutralized via current pasteurization temperatures." 

Well, shit. 

Here's an alternative poem from Plague Poems:

"The article warns
a bird flu pandemic
has the potential to be 
'100 times worse than Covid'
and while I will admit
this frightens me
what scares me more
is knowing more peopel
think the current pandemic
poses zero risk
so I fear '100 time' zero 
is the calculation most will make."