9mo ago

An ounce of prevention: Now is the time to take action on H5N1 avian flu, because the stakes are enormous

theconversation.com An ounce of prevention: Now is the time to take action on H5N1 avian flu, because the stakes are enormous

Our approach to combating pandemics must shift to one that prioritizes prevention of human infections with zoonotic viruses, rather than focusing on rapid response once human infection is widespread.

I really don't want to do this again

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I worry that if mass graves due to covid weren't enough to jolt near-unanimous support for protective measures, little else will. Would of course love to be proven wrong :(
edit: for the sake of clarity / not accidentally misrepresenting things, graves would be dug up there (as per the article) with/without covid, but the number of bodies being buried in that manner went to ~7x the amount during non-covid according to the article.
- There were even those temporary structures/tents outside of hospitals in Australia. Saw them locally, none of the behaviours changed though.
  I really really hope that this virus doesn't also jump to humans and force us to deal with strollouts and noncompliant people again...
  
  Bit late to worry about it jumping to humans.
  https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-flu-summary.htm
  
  Sorry, I meant from human to human and instead said that
  My bad
  
  I misunderstood, sorry.
  It seems quite adaptable though, birds cows, cats, humans.
  
  Nah, it was my really poor phrasing. What was being thought was not what got typed
  Agreed. It's not looking good. I also hope against hope that it doesn't affect meat, eggs and milk supply
- I think the frequency of deaths after infection would need to be an order of magnitude higher to move the needle on preventative measures. People just assume it won't effect them when 199 out of 200 people survive.
  
  This measure of 199 out of 200 is the US population equivalent of 1,650,000 people.
  Guess is time to start investing in the business of death and funerals.
  
  This measure of 199 out of 200 is the US population equivalent of 1,650,000 people.
  So, roughly in the ballpark of how many COVID has killed thus far (best estimate I could find was a little over 1.2 million). Even that didn't really motivate people, unfortunately.
  
  The excess death metrics is a solid track of what people don't want to talk about and forget as it's painful, but I guess is human nature to bury these hard things rather than push them to get fixed.
  
  With the boomers on the way out, the time is right whether or not we have another pandemic.
- It feels like our public health systems have gone backwards since covid. Not because we don't have the skills and resources, but because of ideology.

19 comments