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How the U.S. Lost Control of Bird Flu, Setting the Stage for Another Pandemic
Posting in GD for its possible impact. CA has declared an emergency.
Archived from SciAm.
https://archive.ph/ExzU5
Very long article covers all the blunders that led to this situation. I'll just quote from the end, because the magnitude of the problem depends on what happens next.
Does the name "RFK Jr." give you a warn feeling, or did you just pee your pants?
Curtailing the virus on farms is the best way to prevent human infections, said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, but human surveillance must be stepped up, too. Every clinic serving communities where farmworkers live should have easy access to bird flu tests — and be encouraged to use them. Funds for farmworker outreach must be boosted. And, she added, the CDC should change its position and offer farmworkers bird flu vaccines to protect them and ward off the chance of a hybrid bird flu that spreads quickly.
The rising number of cases not linked to farms signals a need for more testing in general. When patients are positive on a general flu test — a common diagnostic that indicates human, swine, or bird flu — clinics should probe more deeply, Nuzzo said.
The alternative is a wait-and-see approach in which the nation responds only after enormous damage to lives or businesses. This tack tends to rely on mass vaccination. But an effort analogous to Trump’s Operation Warp Speed is not assured, and neither is rollout like that for the first COVID shots, given a rise in vaccine skepticism among Republican lawmakers.
Change may instead need to start from the bottom up — on dairy farms, still the most common source of human infections, said Poulsen. He noticed a shift in attitudes among farmers at the Dairy Expo: “They’re starting to say, ‘How do I save my dairy for the next generation?’ They recognize how severe this is, and that it’s not just going away.”
The rising number of cases not linked to farms signals a need for more testing in general. When patients are positive on a general flu test — a common diagnostic that indicates human, swine, or bird flu — clinics should probe more deeply, Nuzzo said.
The alternative is a wait-and-see approach in which the nation responds only after enormous damage to lives or businesses. This tack tends to rely on mass vaccination. But an effort analogous to Trump’s Operation Warp Speed is not assured, and neither is rollout like that for the first COVID shots, given a rise in vaccine skepticism among Republican lawmakers.
Change may instead need to start from the bottom up — on dairy farms, still the most common source of human infections, said Poulsen. He noticed a shift in attitudes among farmers at the Dairy Expo: “They’re starting to say, ‘How do I save my dairy for the next generation?’ They recognize how severe this is, and that it’s not just going away.”
42 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
...and make the state governors kiss his ass to get those supplies shipped, and force meatpacking plants to stay open so that the virus spreads, and...you get the picture. I called Covid the "free-market pandemic", because that's how we handled it under the Trump regime.
And just like that, a satire site becomes national policy.
https://birdsarentreal.com/
This is the fun page: https://birdsarentreal.com/pages/faq
What is this movement’s purpose?
The Birds Aren't Real movement exists to spread awareness that the U.S. Government genocided over 12 Billion birds from 1959-2001, and replaced these birds with surveillance drone replicas, which still watch us every day. Once a preventative cause, our initial goal was to stop the forced extinction of real birds. Unfortunately this was unsuccessful, and the government has since replaced every living bird with robotic replicas. Now our movement's prerogative is to make everyone aware of this fact.
What is bird poop?
Bird poop was originally thought to be oil discharge from earlier bird drone models. After further research though, this was disproven. Bird poop irregularly falls on vehicles in large amounts. Recent studies show that 87% of Bird Poop in populated areas falls on people’s cars. Why is this? Confidential documents leaked in 2018 revealing that “Bird Poop” is actually a form of liquidated tracking apparatus. If you walk outside and notice some bird poop just “happened” to fall on your car, be aware that you are now being tracked by the United States Government. It is recommended you clean your car exterior regularly to avoid this.
More answers to frequently asked questions at site.
I never thought I'd see people turn their back on science. 
...that the Trump regime will do the right thing when it comes to bird flu. Especially not with RFK Jr running HHS!
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219842074#post9
What happens if the bird flu makes the full jump to humans and becomes easily transmissible? Things are already looking scary in farm country with cases which appear to be increasing. And you know that if we get a bird flu pandemic, Trump and his cronies will be at least as incompetent as they were during Covid. I just can't wait for Trump's whiny press conferences, where he complains about his ratings and the "fake news" while half the country is dying. Can you?
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219490667#post23
Trump did absolutely everything wrong about Covid, including concealing information (which he had obtained through intelligence briefings) about its lethality. Then when he contracted Covid through his own stupidity--probably at one of his idiotic rallies---he got absolutely heroic measures which saved his life, including at least 16 courses of Regeneron antibody treatment. 
Because Trump turned Covid into another front in the culture war, soon the MAGA chuds got in on the action as well. It wasn't long before his moronic followers created conspiracy theories about the vaccines (RFID chips, etc.) and refused to take them--even being fired from their health care jobs for their refusal...
Because Trump turned Covid into another front in the culture war, soon the MAGA chuds got in on the action as well. It wasn't long before his moronic followers created conspiracy theories about the vaccines (RFID chips, etc.) and refused to take them--even being fired from their health care jobs for their refusal...
Response to BidenRocks (Reply #14)
from farms and dairies is running the risk of contracting this flu.
Geez, if I was a LEO or private prison worker rarin' to go on the mass deportations, this would give me pause.
The way the world is now I’m just gonna stay stocked up on those things 
There was a king reigned in the East:
There, when kings will sit to feast,
They get their fill before they think
With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.
He gathered all the springs to birth
From the many-venomed earth;
First a little, thence to more,
He sampled all her killing store;
And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,
Sate the king when healths went round.
They put arsenic in his meat
And stared aghast to watch him eat;
They poured strychnine in his cup
And shook to see him drink it up:
They shook, they stared as white's their shirt:
Them it was their poison hurt.
I tell the tale that I heard told.
Mithridates, he died old.
There, when kings will sit to feast,
They get their fill before they think
With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.
He gathered all the springs to birth
From the many-venomed earth;
First a little, thence to more,
He sampled all her killing store;
And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,
Sate the king when healths went round.
They put arsenic in his meat
And stared aghast to watch him eat;
They poured strychnine in his cup
And shook to see him drink it up:
They shook, they stared as white's their shirt:
Them it was their poison hurt.
I tell the tale that I heard told.
Mithridates, he died old.
