Core Dump: I'm Getting Worried About Bird Flu
I'm getting worried about bird flu (aka H5N1 avian influenza). Calling it bird flu is a bit of a misnomer now, as recent news makes it clear that it is spreading widely in mammals, now including cows. This has been happening for a while now, but it's getting widespread enough that the mainstream media is picking up on it.
The New York Times looks at recent large outbreaks (gift link), especially among sea lions, that have devastated colonies along the coast of North and South America.
What they found was staggering: The virus had killed an estimated 17,400 seal pups, more than 95 percent of the colony’s young animals.
The catastrophe was the latest in a bird flu epidemic that has whipped around the world since 2020, prompting authorities on multiple continents to kill poultry and other birds by the millions. In the United States alone, more than 90 million birds have been culled in a futile attempt to deter the virus.
There has been no stopping H5N1. Avian flu viruses tend to be picky about their hosts, typically sticking to one kind of wild bird. But this one has rapidly infiltrated an astonishingly wide array of birds and animals, from squirrels and skunks to bottlenose dolphins, polar bears and, most recently, dairy cows.
