Bird flu’s dangerous leap

Bird flu has been circling the globe for decades, but in 2024 the deadly virus jumped from a wild bird to a cow. The virus has torn through America’s dairy herds and poultry flocks in just over a year. It has even infected other mammals, including humans. 70 Americans have caught the virus, one has died.

There is growing concern that we could be on the verge of another pandemic. Doctors and veterinarians fighting the virus say the Biden Administration was slow to act, while the Trump Administration has now laid off more than 100 key scientists, and the virus keeps spreading.

Will Humble, Executive Director for the Arizona Public Health Association, joined “Arizona Horizon” to talk about the bird flu and what this could mean.

Humble said this is more of an agricultural virus that is affecting agriculture financially. The flu has spread from wild birds to flocks of poultry. The virus has also been seen in some cats, cattle and very few dairy farm employees.

“There’s a lot of influenza viruses that infect birds, Avian Influenza, that’s what H5-N1 is right now, there’s also human influenza viruses like H1-N1, for example. They just basically infect those species separately. You get a new pandemic when you get pigs in the mix,” Humble said.

Pigs can be infected with both the Avian Influenza and a human influenza virus and they can make a new version of the virus they have and spread it to humans, according to Humble. He said that what happened with H1-N1. That is also the reason why H5-N1 has not become a pandemic through humans.

Are we, as a country, prepared for another pandemic?

“I would say, we were much better prepared six months ago than we are today. Why? Because so many of the research scientists have been fired, encouraged to quit, research is reducing at the National Institute of Health, the CDC talent has been leaving and encouraged to leave and getting fired,” Humble said.

The budget cuts and firings of people impact the preparedness of a pandemic in this country, according to Humble.