Second Trump administration should take chook flu critically

by Dave Dickey, Columnist, Examine Midwest
January 22, 2025

by Dave Dickey, Columnist, Examine Midwest
January 22, 2025

Within the run as much as the November elections, then-Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance famously blamed Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris for spiking the value of eggs.

“Let’s discuss eggs. Eggs, when Kamala Harris took workplace had been wanting $1.50 a dozen. Now, a dozen eggs will value you round $4, because of Kamala Harris’ inflationary insurance policies.”

It is true egg costs are by means of the roof. The Client Value Index for final November confirmed the value of eggs jumped 8.2% from October and spiked 37.5% 12 months over 12 months.

However Vance is oh so fallacious on why egg costs are uncontrolled. Inflation actually has little or no to do with it. The driving wrongdoer is the unfold of chook flu throughout the nation. The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention says extra that 133 million birds have been detected with the extremely pathogenic viruses since January 2022. All these useless chickens instantly influence the U.S. egg provide. And fewer eggs mixed with larger vacation demand equals larger retail egg costs. 

Because the fall elections, Donald Trump admitted bringing down the price of groceries can be some feat: “I might wish to deliver them down. It is exhausting to deliver issues down as soon as they’re up. , it’s totally exhausting.” 

However on the subject of the chook flu, the Trump White Home has a lot larger issues than the price of eggs. And it higher be paying consideration.

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That is as a result of the chook flu can infect dairy cows.

USDA confirmed the first-ever case of chook flu an infection of a dairy cow on a farm in Texas final March. Lower than per week afterward April 1, checks confirmed the primary reported human case of chook flu within the U.S.

As of mid-January, the CDC reported that 928 U.S. dairy herds in 16 states had been contaminated with chook flu in addition to 67 individuals.

Simply as disconcerting: in December, a Louisiana man, who contracted the primary human case of extreme chook flu, died. The CDC reported genetic mutations that would probably make it simpler for chook flu to unfold extra simply from individual to individual.  

Reportedly the person seemingly was contaminated following publicity to birds carrying the D1.1 genotype virus. Whereas totally different from the virus genotype presently infecting nearly 100% of U.S. dairy cow herds, the person’s demise is a transparent warning signal that chook flu wants shut monitoring and potential fast response.

The Nationwide Institutes of Well being admitted the present pressure of H5N1, with only a single glutamine to leucine mutation, would make human-to-human an infection potential. Efforts are underway to develop a brand new vaccine, within the occasion of a pandemic.

Federal and state well being officers bought off to a rocky begin in deciding work collectively to know the potential menace of chook flu on dairy cattle. The governmental turf warfare created pointless delay as chook flu contaminated dairy cattle from Hawaii to Florida.

It was solely final month that USDA’s Animal and Plant Well being Inspection Service lastly introduced a nationwide milk testing program and different necessities to know what in blue blazes is happening.

The Fed’s sluggish response to those rising chook flu outbreaks is just too acquainted. Recall the U.S. prepare wreck in coping with COVID. The nadir, maybe, was when then President Donald Trump publicly inspired his prime well being officers to check the injection of bleach into the human physique as a method of combating COVID:

“I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a method we will do one thing like that by injection inside or nearly a cleansing? As you see, it will get within the lungs, it does an amazing quantity on the lungs, so it might be attention-grabbing to test that.” 

Earlier this week, Trump was inaugurated for a second time period. So it’s truthful to ask how the Trump White Home will deal with chook flu. The CDC continues to emphasize that public well being danger is low. However the danger of a worldwide COVID pandemic was additionally low … till it wasn’t.  

Have the feds discovered from their blunders in coping with COVID? If chook flu mutates in such a method that enables straightforward unfold from human to human, will the federal government be prepared? That one can not confidently reply these questions with “sure” and “sure” ought to be upsetting. 

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