Earlier strains of bird flu were quite scary. Perhaps that is no longer the case.
https://open.substack.com/pub/merylnass/p/govts-around-the-world-culled-over?r=aiop6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
H5N1 bird flu has been high on the worry list of experts on emerging diseases for the past two decades. Over that time there have been nearly 900 human infections in 23 countries; just over half of those infections have been fatal. But in recent years the strain of the virus circulating in many parts of the world including the United States seems to trigger human infections less frequently than earlier versions of the virus did. And when human cases caused by this strain occur, they are typically mild.
A case in point was the country's first H5 infection, which occurred in 2022. A man who was involved in culling infected poultry in Colorado reported feeling fatigued; he tested positive for the virus. It was unclear if he was actually even infected or simply had viruses in his nose that were picked up by a nasal swab test….
The low rate of human infections and the mildness of most cases when they occur has counterbalanced concern about the virus's astonishing spread.
https://open.substack.com/pub/merylnass/p/govts-around-the-world-culled-over?r=aiop6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
H5N1 bird flu has been high on the worry list of experts on emerging diseases for the past two decades. Over that time there have been nearly 900 human infections in 23 countries; just over half of those infections have been fatal. But in recent years the strain of the virus circulating in many parts of the world including the United States seems to trigger human infections less frequently than earlier versions of the virus did. And when human cases caused by this strain occur, they are typically mild.
A case in point was the country's first H5 infection, which occurred in 2022. A man who was involved in culling infected poultry in Colorado reported feeling fatigued; he tested positive for the virus. It was unclear if he was actually even infected or simply had viruses in his nose that were picked up by a nasal swab test….
The low rate of human infections and the mildness of most cases when they occur has counterbalanced concern about the virus's astonishing spread.
