Scientists Warn, Spread of Bird Flu to Mammals Could Put Humans in Danger

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From the, It's not nice to piss off Mother Nature desk.
As a deadly strain of avian influenza continues to decimate bird populations around the world and spread among other animals, some scientists are warning that mammal-to-mammal transmission has emerged as a real possibility with potentially catastrophic consequences for humans.

Over the past year, officials in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada have detected cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu in a variety of species, including bears, foxes, otters, raccoons, and skunks. Last month, a cat suffered serious neurological symptoms from a late 2022 infection, according to French officials who said that the virus showed genetic characteristics consistent with adaptation to mammals.

Most of these infections are likely the result of mammals eating infected birds, according to Jürgen Richt, director of the Center on Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at Kansas State University.

More alarming, multiple researchers argue, was the large outbreak of H5N1 on a Spanish mink farm last October, which could mark the first known instance of mammal-to-mammal transmission.
Full long article: https://www.commondreams.org/news/bird- ... als-humans

First it was COVID now this.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Scientists Warn, Spread of Bird Flu to Mammals Could Put Humans in Danger

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The correct viewpoint is that Covid-19 was just the first great breakthrough pandemic in the era of modern medicine. Infectious diseases experts have long been warning us about this for decades now. The fact is that growing air-travel and economic globalization had exponentially increased the risks of pandemics. But even before that happens, our agriculture will suffer from these infectious diseases and cause havoc in food supply and costs.
Eggs anyone?
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: Scientists Warn, Spread of Bird Flu to Mammals Could Put Humans in Danger

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Then we have this.
'Grim' Report Warns 40% of US Animals at Risk of Extinction

Underscoring the need for humanity to overhaul its relationship with nature, 34% of plants species and 40% of animal species across the United States are at risk of extinction while 41% of U.S. ecosystems could collapse, according to an analysis published Monday by the nonprofit NatureServe.

"For 50 years, the NatureServe Network has been collecting the information necessary to understand biodiversity imperilment in the United States. This new analysis of that data, a first in 20 years, makes crystal clear the urgency of that work," said the group's vice president for data and methods, Regan Smyth.

"Two-fifths of our ecosystems are in trouble. Freshwater invertebrates and many pollinators, the foundation of a healthy, functional planet, are in precipitous decline," she pointed out. "Understanding and addressing these risks is critical if we are to forestall devastating consequences for the biodiversity that humanity needs to survive."

Noting that roughly a third of plants are in danger, the report—Biodiversity in Focus: United States Edition—explains that "this is an alarming general finding, but certain taxa face even greater threats. For example, 48% of cactus species are at risk of extinction, while around 200 tree species (about 20%) are at risk of extinction."
Full long article: https://www.commondreams.org/news/natur ... inction-us
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Scientists Warn, Spread of Bird Flu to Mammals Could Put Humans in Danger

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Decades ago there was a bridge from birds to mammals and that's the source of our annual influenza epidemics. New strains are always problematic, depending on how different they are and how resistant humans are to the new strain. It's always likely that we'll see new strains of COVID and of Influenza, which is why CDC has permanent staff in Asia. Once the bridge from ducks to pigs was breached in China, we've been fighting influenza every year.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

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