This is a version atlantic monthly Daily, a newsletter that guides you to the day's most important stories, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Register here.
Bird flu numbers have been rising steadily over the past few months, especially among farm workers who come into close contact with cows. I spoke with my science reporting colleague Katherine J. Wu about her current level of concern and the government’s response to the spread of the virus so far.
Lora Kelly: We last spoke in April, when a dairy worker contracted bird flu. At the time, you described your level of concern about bird flu as "moderate." How would you describe your level of concern now?
Catherine Wu: At this point, I would upgrade it to "Medium+". I don't think I would upgrade to "high" unless we start seeing strong evidence of human-to-human transmission. I'm not ruling it out, but we're not there yet.
Since last spring, the situation has gotten worse. We are seeing ongoing infections among dairy workers, meaning particularly vulnerable people are being exposed in their work environments. Every time a virus infects a new person, it has a chance to evolve into something that ultimately becomes a pathogen that spreads easily from person to person.
Laura: What have public health officials done differently in recent months to control the outbreak?
Catherine: Part of the reason I'm concerned is the lackluster response from the government. Transferring the virus to cows is a huge red flag. Cows have never been a known source of this flu, so this was completely surprising. At that moment, officials should say: We really need to contain this before it gets out of hand. If some of the first affected herds were stopped or even culled, the virus might have been contained before dairy farm workers became ill.
The USDA has stepped up testing of milk, and the CDC is still working on outreach to farmworkers, who are among the most at risk here. But more testing can still be done at the individual level—individual animals, individuals. There may be more frequent and more aggressive sampling of where the virus is located in the environment and on farms.
Representatives from the USDA and CDC denied that their response was insufficient — although independent experts I spoke to disputed this. To be clear, officials can't fully predict the future and prevent an outbreak if it starts to worsen, nor are critics asking for it. But for now, it's still a very passive approach: We see the virus is already here; I guess we can go ahead and check if it's there. But a more proactive approach to testing and better communication with the public would really help.
Laura: How does the government's response to bird flu compare with COVID-19?
Catherine: There is no doubt that the emergence of COVID-19 has impacted the government’s response. I don't think they want to overreact unnecessarily and cause widespread panic. That's fair, but I think they missed a middle ground.
The response to COVID-19 has been haphazard by definition because we have no pre-existing tests, vaccines, and antiviral drugs. We have not dealt with a coronavirus like this in recent memory. However, there are a range of tools available. We have already dealt with large influenza outbreaks. We know what the flu can do. We know that influenza can generally spread from animals to humans. We've seen this particular virus actually spread to people in different settings around the world.
Laura: Have we missed an opportunity to slow the spread of avian influenza?
Catherine: Since there is currently no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission, there is still time to intervene. Did officials miss some opportunities to intervene more, earlier? Yes. But this does not mean that our attitude from here on should be I think we should let this continue.
Laura: Vaccine skeptic RFK Jr. may soon lead the Department of Health and Human Services. How will his leadership impact the avian flu response?
Catherine: I don't think there is a need to introduce a bird flu vaccine to the public yet. But I think there could be significant changes in public health policy in this country. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. specifically said that the NIH would suspend its focus on infectious diseases for the next few years, which was not a good sign. Infectious diseases won’t let us stop.
Laura: Should the public better absorb lessons from the COVID-19 era in order to respond to the disease more broadly?
Catherine: To be fair, getting sick in general is hard to avoid, especially at this time of year. During the height of the pandemic, when people were still wearing masks more consistently and not going out in public, we did get sick a lot less because we were avoiding each other.
That said, I think people do forget very quickly that the drugs that work against COVID-19 also work against many other diseases, especially other respiratory viruses. I'm not saying we all need to go back to wearing masks 24/7 and never going to school or work in person. But maybe don’t go to work when you’re sick — something all employers should do. Maybe don't send your child to day care if they're sick. Maybe don't sneeze into your hands and rub them on the subway railing. Wash your hands frequently.
Unfortunately, there is a tendency for a true binary response: do everything or do nothing. Nowadays, people seem to be leaning towards doing nothing because they are tired of the age of doing nothing. But there is a middle ground here, too.
Related:
Here are four new stories atlantic monthly:
Today's news
evening reading
Stylish Hustlers Reach the Top Soon
Sophie Gilbert
Spring 2009, vice Published a blog post, infamous even by its own standards, titled "Bad Department!—We Hire a Liar." An employee began chatting with Kari Ferrell, the magazine's new executive assistant; after she began asking him for help via instant messages, he reportedly Googled her and discovered she was in Salt Lake On the city police's wanted list. Rather than simply firing Ferrell, vice exposed her online.
Read the full article.
More from atlantic monthly
cultural breakthrough
Test it out. Here are 10 practical ways to improve your happiness, according to happiness expert Arthur C. Brooks.
read. James Packer writes that kindness has become counterculture. Maybe St. Francis can help.
Play our daily crossword puzzle.
Stephanie Bai contributed to this newsletter.
Explore all our newsletters here.
When you purchase books using links in this newsletter, we receive a commission. thank you for your support atlantic monthly.