We all know about the bird flu pandemic because of our wonderful Leslie.
The Department of Agriculture has started testing and discussing an H5N1 vaccine. From The New York Times:
At the same time, officials at the federal Agriculture Department, which is responsible for the health of farm animals, say they have begun testing potential poultry vaccines and initiated discussions with industry leaders about a large-scale bird flu vaccination program for poultry, which would be a first for the United States.Farm birds are already vaccinated against infectious poultry diseases, such as fowlpox. But an avian influenza vaccination program would be a complex undertaking, and poultry trade associations are divided over the idea, in part because it might spawn trade restrictions that could destroy the $6 billion poultry export industry. Dr. Carol Cardona, an expert on avian health at the University of Minnesota, said that the fear of trade bans was a huge barrier to the mass vaccination of poultry.
Avian influenza expert Robert G. Ebster at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital thinks the Biden administration should vaccinate the poultry population to “prevent the inevitable transmission to humans.”
The CDC already sent bird flu samples to Big Pharma to start manufacturing H5N1 vaccines for humans.
The transmission from chicken to human is rare. It recently happened in Cambodia. An 11-year-old girl died, and her father also had it. They had a different strain than the one in the U.S.
The CDC reported that medical professionals monitored 6,135 people, and 163 had symptoms. Only one person tested positive for bird flu.
You know they’re probably dying for another pandemic. No one in those positions easily gives up power and control. They’re still trying to hold onto any power from COVID.
Sources told The Times that Biden would okay a vaccine if it means it would bring relief to people regarding egg prices:
For President Biden, there are also political considerations at work. Egg prices, which soared in 2022, were 70 percent higher in January than they were a year earlier. Those high prices have given Republicans another opportunity to attack Mr. Biden over inflation just as he is preparing to run for re-election in 2024.Experts say egg prices could continue rising through the spring, driven in part by Easter season demand but also by supply shortages linked to the bird flu outbreak. And the outbreak may worsen in the months ahead as wild birds begin their spring migrations, bringing the virus with them.
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