It has already infected poultry and various mammals. Are humans next?
For months, our columnist Zeynep Tufekci has warned that we face a growing threat from a pathogen potentially more dangerous than the coronavirus — bird flu, particularly the H5N1 strain. As it has spread from poultry to migratory birds to various mammals, there is a growing risk that a variant could spread to and among people. |
Now there is an out-of-control H5N1 outbreak at fur farms in Finland and a mystery outbreak among domestic cats in Poland — the European Union's biggest exporter of poultry and its biggest operator of mink farms. Minks' upper respiratory tracts are exceptionally well suited to act as a conduit to humans, one virologist noted to Zeynep earlier this year. |
"Of course, since the coronavirus pandemic taught us the importance of responding early and aggressively to outbreaks … Sorry, I'm joking," Zeynep writes in her latest avian flu column, "we don't seem to have learned much from the Covid outbreak, and it's not funny." |
She calls for a ban on fur farms, which she describes as "cruel, dangerous and unnecessary," and argues for increased surveillance and reporting requirements for H5N1 mammal outbreaks. "Paying off fur farmers in Europe and the United States could be cheaper than dealing with a human outbreak," Zeynep writes. She adds that events like the spread among cats in Poland cannot pass without a thorough and transparent investigation. |
"As we've sadly found out," Zeynep says, "borders and jurisdictions are niceties that viruses don't care about, but the lessons remain unheeded globally." |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
Forward this newsletter to friends to share ideas and perspectives that will help inform their lives. They can sign up here. Do you have feedback? Email us at opiniontoday@nytimes.com. |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment