Posted by News (136..148.34) on November 25, 2024 at 04:47:24:
H5N1, a subtype of avian flu, has been a major issue for American farmers since 2020. But it’s increasingly becoming a problem for people, too. Initially confined to poultry, the virus has spread to several species over the years, including foxes, minks, and alpacas, and earlier this year, cows. This year, a large-scale infection in cows led to a spate of human cases. Most alarmingly, three recent infections in people — including one that left a teenager in British Columbia in critical condition — can’t be traced to contact with any animals, indicating the possibility of human-to-human transmission. There is still no evidence such transmission is taking place, and authorities say risk to the public is low. But this problem clearly isn’t going away, and the U.S.response to it has been sluggish and opaque. David O’Connor, a well-known professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Wisconsin, has been a notable critic of the government’s approach. I spoke with him and his colleague Tom Friedrich, a virology professor at Wisconsin, about how COVID fatigue, fragmented health care oversight, and mistrust of the medical establishment has combined to create a high-risk situation.