Bird flu sweeps through zoos with 'grave implications' for endangered animals

[wnylib]

5. What could happen if Mr. Worm Brain blocks

milk and meat testing, or relaxes regulations on food handling? Depends on how contagious H5N1 bird flu is and how serious the infections are in humans. So far, human infections have been mild, except for one. A severe infection has occurred in a person with underlying health conditions, who is now hospitalized.

The more infections in humans, the more possibilities for the virus to mutate into human to human transmission.

What foods will be safe to eat?

The farm animals currently most affected by bird flu are chickens and cows.

Pasteurized milk is safe. But if current regulations on pasteurization and labeling are relaxed or removed, how will we know if the milk we buy is safe? As a precaution, we can boil milk before using it.

But what about cheese, sour cream, butter, chip dips, etc?

We don't eat raw chickens, but what about handling chicken as we prepare to cook it? Our hands, sinks, cutting boards, etc. can become contaminated.

Rare and medium rare steaks and prime rib would be risky to eat. What about chefs who handle them in restaurant kitchens?

Eggs would need to be well cooked before eating. No more "sunny side up" fried eggs. What about handling egg shells to crack them open?

Could plant foods become infected by runoff from infected animals into soil? It happens now sometimes with e-coli. Would fresh vegetables and fruits be affected?

We need a well functioning health care system and a regulated food handling and testing system to deal with a currently developing problem in order to contain it.

But Mr. Trump and Mr. Brain Worm are opposed to both.