The 100-Year Life Health Education and Government
“I have been monitoring the spread of bird flu, also known as H5N1… My concern is growing”, writes Dr David Kessler, former FDA commissioner and the Biden administration’s chief science officer during Covid-19.
Although there isn’t evidence (yet) of human-to-human transmission, at least 55 cases of bird flu in humans have already been confirmed.
Nearly all of those cases are poultry and dairy workers. California is a particular concern as it's estimated as many as half the dairy farms in the state have infected herds.
Last week, a child showing mild respiratory symptoms from Alameda County had samples taken that were positive for H5N1. Epidemiologists have also raised concern over a teenager hospitalised in Canada with a potentially mutated variation of the virus, making it more transmissible among humans.
Neither had any known contact with infected animals. The risk to the public still remains low but experts have pointed to a “sluggish and opaque” government strategy for handling the outbreak.
