H5N1 Bird Flu Isn’t a Human Pandemic—Yet
www.scientificamerican.com
Americans don’t like being told what to do, and many don’t trust government. These stubborn attitudes might turn H5N1 bird flu into a pandemic

When H5N1 avian influenza started spreading among dairy cattle across the U.S. this year, regulators warned against consuming unpasteurized milk. What happened? Raw milk sales went up.

Distributors of this unsafe-for-human-consumption product deny H5N1—which has the potential to sicken millions of people—is a danger. Dairy farmers decline to allow disease detectives onto their properties.

  • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.worldEnglish
    811·
    5 months ago

    So, when this finally jumps species, will we continue the tradition of naming a virus after its origin?

    MAGA Influenza or maybe the Florida Flu?

    • SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world
      42·
      5 months ago
      • Flyover Flu
      • Farmer’s Flu
      • Milk Malady
      • MAGA Malady
      • Cow Contamination
      • Cow’s Cough
      • Dairy Disease
      • Bird’s Blight
      • Flying Fever
      • Pigeon Pestilence
      • Pigeon Plague

      That’s enough alliteration for today

    • Pazuzu@midwest.socialEnglish
      16·
      5 months ago

      Nah, we’ll do like we did with the Spanish flu where we put our heads in the sand about a new flu strain from a farm in Kansas and name it after the first place to publicly acknowledge it exists.