The highly virulent B3.13 form of the H5N1 virus has already led to the culling of 90 million domestic birds in the US alone since 2022. The CDC says the risk to the general public from the H5N1 strain is currently low, with the 11 infected so far in the US reporting mild symptoms.
Yet a single confirmed death of a vulnerable person from the related H5N2 virus in Mexico serves as a stark reminder of the risks involved, should the pathogen evolve.
Of note, the H5N2 virus is a completely different strain of influenza from what this article is about, and this guy, who had severe comorbidities, is the only known person in the entire world to have contracted it. This case is completely unrelated to the H5N1 outbreak, but I guess it “serves as a stark reminder.”
I’m nearly as far from an expert on infectious diseases as it gets, but - and if anyone who knows about influenza reproduction can chime in - I remember reading that influenza has incredible abilities to mutate wildly and recombine. The analogy was like, if human reproduction is like taking two decks of cards and randomly shuffling half of each deck together, then influenza is like taking any number of decks, randomly chopping up and re-splicing portions of random individual cards together, as well as resorting all of them back together without any regard for whether the results are going to even produce anything that can live or not. But the reproductions and randomizations are so voluminous that it doesn’t matter - at least some of it will stick.
In other words, in addition to the wildly rapid mutation capabilities these viruses have - if you have animals that are carrying more than one strain of influenza simultaneously, those two or more strains can produce hybrids.
But again: citation needed.
I’ll honestly trust the CDC’s opinion that is currently low risk, since they know all about viruses and their mutation rates and chances of jumping from other mammals to humans
In western civilization everything is low risk until we’ve come too far to avert calamity. Before the 2008 financial crisis, every institution that played a role would have you believe everything was great, right up until everything was falling apart.
With global warming we always had, and still struggle against entirely too many people, and lying institutional vested interests, downplaying or disbelieving how serious of a global catastrophe climate change is forming into.
The only reason h5n1 is “low risk” at the current time is because it’s not yet a human-to-human calamity that is already too far underway to put a stop to. We all saw how badly we all collectively handled covid.
We are now at mammal to mammal transmission, and humans are also mammals. The only actual difference between low risk, and full on pandemic, at this point, is patient zero.
You should really go back to the article and read the whole thing, as well as others that are linked to in it. Because in this one the WHO describes it as an enormous concern, because it is.
https://www.sciencealert.com/who-warns-growing-spread-of-bird-flu-to-humans-is-enormous-concern
If anyone wants help going vegan, I’d be happy to help. Even if it’s infeasible to get enough people in the world to stop eating animals fast enough to avert the next pandemic, there is evidence that people who eat plant-based have better outcomes from getting sick, as well as just getting sick less in general. Not to mention getting animal products out of your homes reduces one of the vectors through which pathogens can spread. So at the very least you’d be giving yourself your own best chance (just keep in mind it’s no replacement for vaccinations!)
I’ve been sick so much less since I became vegan. I always had a cold a couple of times a year all my life, but now I’ve had two very mild ones in 5 years. I also haven’t had covid, even though my family and many friends have, I didn’t use a mask that much and my country didn’t have lockdown in the way most did (Sweden).
Right, the difference in immune benefit is so crystal clear for everyone who makes the switch, not even considering the other myriad benefits like heart health, diabetes reversal/mitigation, weight loss, and mental health benefits.
there is evidence that people who eat plant-based have better outcomes from getting sick
Sounds like a steak side salad would be beneficial.
No, no it would not be beneficial. That would be the opposite of beneficial (unless it’s plant-based steak).
Beneficial for the human.
Eating the flesh of an animal is not good for anyone. It’s not good for the animal who was abused their whole life and murdered. It’s not good for the environment. It’s not good for all the beings who get sick from pathogens because of it. And it’s not even good for the human animal who consumes the other animal’s flesh.
