Summary
Two people in Wyoming and Ohio were hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu, with one still in care. Both had contact with infected poultry.
The cases heighten concerns about reassortment with seasonal flu, potentially creating a more dangerous strain. No human-to-human transmission has been detected.
The CDC is monitoring outbreaks as the Trump administration considers shifting containment strategies. Studies suggest prior H1N1 exposure may offer some immunity, but experts warn protection is uncertain.
The U.S. has reported 70 human H5N1 cases since detection in cows last year.
I don’t want to go through another pandemic either. COVID has ravaged my body, so I don’t know if I could handle H5N1 anywhere near as well as I could 5 years ago. But does bitching at me about how I may be not exactly correct help that in any way? There’s tons of people all over social media spouting full on wrong or outright deceitful information over and over again, and I’m trying to push the narrative towards experts’ messages as well as I can. People don’t remember information because it’s correct, they remember what they hear the most. We can’t just sit back and hope the experts are loud enough on their own to combat misinformation.
I apologize for sounding more definitive than the reality. This is probability and statistics, so it’s not a sure thing until it actually happens. What I was trying to point out was that as long as we’re complacent and allow an “acceptable level” of cases, the probabilities will keep getting worse. I have to simplify something, and I guess I went too far this time. Do you have a better way to phrase it that doesn’t get so mired in the details people’s eyes will glaze over?