The last time we checked on highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), better known as the “bird flu,” ten Colorado poultry workers had developed symptoms of bird flu (mainly pink eye).
Cattle that are infected continue to have only mild symptoms. There is currently no evidence than humans can catch this disease except through the direct contact with the body fluids of infected animals.
It appears America’s cattle ranchers and dairy farmers are quiet-quitting pandemic madness, and are not testing their animals.
Reuters spoke with more than a dozen researchers, veterinarians, farmers, and livestock industry groups to understand whether the bird-flu spread in dairy cattle is being accurately tracked.State animal and human health experts in three states who work closely with veterinarians and farmers said the government tally is likely an undercount because farmers are fearful of the economic hardship brought by a positive test, including being restricted from selling their milk or cattle for weeks.The virus reduces milk production in cattle. The U.S., the world’s second-largest cheese producer after the European Union, is the only country with known infections in cows.”While we have nine official positives, there are many, many, many more farms that are impacted or infected that are just not testing,” said Joe Armstrong, a veterinarian and cattle expert at the University of Minnesota, who has spoken with farmers across the state.A more accurate cattle case count for Minnesota would be three to five times higher, Armstrong said.
It must also be noted, Americans have stopped racing to get covid tests whenever they have cold-like symptoms. Public health officials are now resorting to sampling sewage to gauge how many people have covid.
Despite the complete lockdown of society, in some places for over two years, in the attempt to end covid, there appears to be a lot of covid in many places.
With U.S. citizens and municipalities now a less reliable source of data, experts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have turned to the sewers to monitor the presence of infectious disease in our wastewater.The results of those tests can provide an early warning system, according to the CDC, as trace amounts of the virus will register even before someone experiences symptoms. It takes about five to seven days for the flush of the toilet to yield results, the CDC says.States that made “very high” list, as of August 9, include: California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Wyoming, Alaska, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Alabama, Mississippi, Kansas, Missouri, Idaho, Minnesota, Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Minnesota, Maryland, New Mexico, Colorado, Massachusetts and Virginia.
Sewage appears to be the go-to source for samples now. Wastewater in this country is also being tested for monkeypox and was detected in a sample from San Francisco.
The mpox virus has been detected in San Francisco’s wastewater, after the disease was declared a “public health emergency of international concern” by the World Health Organization (WHO).The WastewaterSCAN Dashboard, a public health tool used to monitor infectious diseases within communities, shows that mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, was detected in southeast San Francisco on July 26, August 11 and August 12.It is important to note that it is not clear whether these detections come from human sources.
Humans have an immune system for a reason. Perhaps it is time to embrace the idea that there is no way to 100% vaccinate people or animals to completely prevent all illness at all times.
Sensible public health officials and sound medical practitioners should press for rethinking where vaccines should belong in the spectrum of healthcare.
We also need to put a check on global officials, who are busy expanding pandemic watchlists with an eye to expanding their power and influence.
The Black Death plague, bird flu and mpox are among 24 threats that have been added to an influential watchlist of the pathogens that could trigger the next pandemic.In the first update since Covid-19 swept the planet, a World Health Organisation (WHO) panel has dramatically expanded the scope of its index of so-called priority pathogens.Already notorious diseases like Zika, yellow fever and avian influenza have been added, alongside lesser known threats such as Sin Nombre virus – which jumps from deer mice to people and has a fatality rate of 30 per cent in the US. Several bacteria, including cholera, the plague and salmonella, have also been incorporated for the first time.
As a historian, I am going to have to say its a bit late to be adding the Black Death. It has already hit humanity in a number of waves, and we currently have effective antibiotic treatments.
The WHO announcement is now receiving some richly justified mocking.
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