#avian influenza

[dr-otter]

It's a virus that we did a poor job of containing because state diagnostic labs are underfunded and have no power to enforce any kind of preventative measures.

Testing flocks and herds isn't mandatory unless moving them interstate or importing birds. Until recently, farms were paid indemnity for chickens (not cattle), and only since December 2024 are farms that depopulated due to HPAI required to update their biosecurity before restocking and before receiving future indemnity payments for further outbreaks. But if you don't test you don't have to depopulate! Not testing keeps those numbers down and that's good, right? Right?

Sigh

[covid-safer-hotties]

Source

[3liza]

finding this little golden-crowned kinglet dead in the alley today sort of emotionally destabilized me. then i had to spend two hours beating the shit out of government websites trying to find out who im supposed to report dead wild birds to for H1N5 testing and never got a straight fucking answer about whether someone wants to test the body or not.

it affects me in a way i cant really articulate that i never saw him while he was alive

[possumsinpeoplesuits]

...Whelp, at least I got to fill the other hot dog of this meme I made in like February when RSV was going around.

Yay? ;-;

[disasterhimbo]

I’m not sure if anyone’s noticed, but if you’re wondering why I often go days without posting anything recently, it’s the long covid. Sometimes I’m too tired to even use my phone in bed.

Wear a respirator (KN95 or better, N95s tend to seal better but it depends on your face shape).

There’s a 10% chance of long covid every time you get infected, 59% of transmission is asymptomatic, you can get it outside (I did), and this shit sucks ass. Also, there’s gonna be a bird flu pandemic soon too if there isn’t already.

[fox-bright]

So the info is FINALLY out about the poor kid in Canada with H5N1.

She is thirteen, with a history of mild asthma and was overweight. She "presented to an emergency department in British Columbia with a 2-day history of conjunctivitis in both eyes and a 1-day history of fever. She was discharged home without treatment, but cough, vomiting, and diarrhea then developed, and she returned to the emergency department on November 7 in respiratory distress with hemodynamic instability. On November 8, she was transferred, while receiving bilevel positive airway pressure, to the pediatric intensive care unit at British Columbia Children’s Hospital with respiratory failure, pneumonia in the left lower lobe, acute kidney injury, thrombocytopenia, and leukopenia."

They threw everything at this kid. Intensive respiratory support (was intubated and put on ECMO), three different antivirals (oseltamavir, amantadine, baloxavir), renal replacement therapy as her kidneys failed, plasma exchanges every day for three days (in an attempt to lower the concentration of cytokines in her blood and prevent/lessen the storm). "No evidence of reduced susceptibility to any of the three antiviral agents used in treatment was observed" in samples which were cultured--and honestly, I'm not sufficiently-educated to understand what that means in this case. The drugs we have aren't any weaker against it, and it still took all three? Or did they just hit her with everything because it's Canada, she is a child, and this shit is scary? But what it sounds like to me is "the drugs we have are as strong against H5N1 as they were ever going to be, and it's not enough."

"It is notable that lower-respiratory specimens consistently yielded lower Ct values than upper-respiratory specimens, a finding that suggested higher viral levels in the lower-respiratory tract." So, strong samples from her lungs, weaker samples from throat and sinuses. Nnnnot great.

Notable, but not surprising, is that the virus in her body showed the HA mutation which makes it more adapted to humans. In the serious New Orleans case with a similar mutation, the sick birds he was exposed to didn't show it, meaning it happened inside his body; in this case we don't know where the exposure was, just that it was the same virus type as was present in local birds, but it's probable that it also happened after she was sickened rather than before.

Link to paper below:

[kj-bishop]

Posting this for Australians, mainly.

"In a country as vast as Australia, the public plays an important role too.

We’re being asked to immediately report any unusual bird deaths to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.

Health authorities have also warned against handling sick or dead birds."

[makingdonalddrumpfagain]

⚠️

[aboutoriginality]

⚠️

[rikaklassen]

Viral transmission through eyes is confirmed

So, not only dairy workers are coming down with severe conjunctivitis (pink eye), the ferret study confirms ocular transmission.

Better stock up on prescription snorkeling goggles (if you need glasses and cannot wear contact lenses) and firefighting goggles for smoke jumpers.

If you want to help me buy equipment to keep bestie safe from COVID, climate-induced wildfires and the bird flu, here is her PayPal: paypal.me/bglamours.

[covid-safer-hotties]

[grrlscientist]

H5N1 Avian Influenza Detected In New York City’s Wild Birds🪶 | Icahn School of Medicine, BioBus & the WildBirdFund, published by Journal of Virology

by @GrrlScientist 🦠 🔬 🛟 🧪

[mouthydraws]

Tweens that one comic I made back in April since H5N1 is taking off

[ohello0]

Ok so…. H5N1 Bird Flu has spread to house mice in New Mexico…. a week after chicken and egg farms in Iowa plan to slaughter ~4 million contaminated chickens… and after bird flu has spread across dairy farms in 9 different states (so far)

But surely no humans have ever caught it—what was that? There have been 4 human cases in the US, 3 in this year alone (all 3 from dairy cows)? Lemme just check the CDCs summary and recommendations on bird flu real quick.. oh. Um . Clap if you’re scared