H5N1 Bird Flu Isn’t a Human Pandemic—Yet. American Contrariness Could Turn It into One
H5N1 Bird Flu Isn’t a Human Pandemic—Yet. American Contrariness Could Turn It into One
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.
“It not that people are stupid or ignorant or that they don’t know what the science is,” he said. “They’re motivated to reject it on the basis of partisanship, their political ideology, their religion, their cultural values.”
I wonder why he doesn’t figure “The government has provided misinformation recently on health topics” into his list of reasons people don’t trust government health information.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.