Scientists worry government may be repeating COVID mistakes with new virus

Last week, the USDA released the genetic sequences of a strain of influenza that originated in birds and has now spread to dairy cattle in at least eight states. While scientists welcomed the information, there has been growing concern that the USDA isn’t moving fast enough to address a threat to the nation’s food supply and the potential source of a new pandemic. 

Stories about the danger of Avian Influenza Type A, also known as bird flu or H5N1 flu, have made their way into the news for years. The flu was blamed for a spike in the price of eggs in 2022 when about 10% of the nation’s laying hens were lost. It spread rapidly through wild bird populations affecting already-threatened species and creating one of the worst wildlife disease outbreaks in history. Some researchers labeled it a panzootic, the multi-species equivalent of a pandemic.

During this massive outbreak, there were instances of H5N1 flu spreading to other animals and even people, but those cases could be traced directly to contact with infected birds. Now the disease has completed the jump from birds to mammals. The USDA recently announced that it is spreading cow to cow. And that raises real concerns that humans might be next.