July 7, 2025

What a great plan! Let avian flu run rampant through poultry farms across the U.S. — but experts warn that this bonkers idea could hasten the beginning of a new pandemic. Via Live Science:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, and Brooke Rollins, secretary of Agriculture, have floated the notion that instead of culling birds infected with the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus, farmers should let it spread through flocks. The idea is that by doing this, farmers can "identify the birds, and preserve the birds, that are immune to it," Kennedy told Fox News on March 11.

Now, a perspective piece authored by a group of virologists, veterinarians and health security experts argues that the plan would not only be ineffective, but could also increase the risk of the virus spilling over into humans and sparking a new pandemic. The researchers published their arguments July 3 in the journal Science.

"Essentially, the longer you allow a virus that has shown to be effective in infecting multiple hosts survive in an environment, the greater the chance you give it to spread, to mutate, and to try its luck at adaptation," perspective first-author Erin Sorrell, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Live Science. "Worse case scenario, the virus adapts and expands its host range to become transmissible in humans … Now we have a pandemic."

What is it we've been saying for years? Oh yeah. Don't put people who hate the government in charge of the government!

https://bsky.app/profile/bettycjung.bsky.social/post/3lt6tgnovnk2d

The Department of Agriculture has issued a warning after a strain of avian influenza - or bird flu - was detected in a number of wild sea birds off the west coast of Ireland in recent weeks

RTÉ News (@news.rte.ie) 2025-06-27T11:44:52.495Z

“teams found Antarctic fur seals and elephant seals are heavily impacted, crabeater seals and Weddell seals have also died from the virus, and some leopard seals were detected as well”

Avian H5N1 Flu now affecting mammals, but fret thee not… “Heroin Tracks” Junior is on the case

Hookcity - 🚫“War Plan” DMs Please 👊🏻🇺🇸🔥 🫣 (@hookcity.bsky.social) 2025-06-25T20:03:59.612Z

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