Have a relaxing day Dr Ryan. I've been tracking the avian and flu for quite some time thanks to the CDC EID newsletters I subscribe to. But since their suspension there's no way to know what's going on except from secondary sources. Make America healthy again is a sad joke.
Yes, and if you spend time on Bluesky or Reddit, you’ll find reports that the CDC under Trump withheld and then censored information about feline to human transmission cases that were to be reported in that MMWR weekly report. In my abundant free time I’m following the medical journals, the AP, NYT, CIDRAP, WastewaterSCAN, WHO, STAT News, etc. MAHA appeals to people who struggle with complexity, the scientific method, uncertainties and the self correcting mechanisms of science in general. Much easier to rail against Froot Loops than acknowledge the hard, imperfect, labyrinthine, expert work of public health and science.
Thanks Nancy, I enjoyed every minute of that game… a rare treat to have your team dominate so thoroughly! The chili was a 6 on a scale of 10, but not bad for freestyling without a recipe!
It’s really not the time to deliberately decimate the CDC and forbid publication of articles on bird flu in the MMWR— thank you for your service! B=bad— kind of the theme lately.
It’s becoming a perfect storm isn’t it? A storm within a storm within a storm. Not sure it’s going to have a happy ending… just sure there are many endings coming sooner than the world understands.
Even though the news these days between flu, Covid, H5N1, CDC, loss of NIH research funding and USAID isn't good, I appreciate that you delve into these topics and help us stay up-to-date. I hope you enjoy your chili and Super Bowl Sunday.
Thanks Pamela… I would be doing much of this for myself so I’m happy to synthesize and share when I can/feel it’s in my primary care lane. Chili was decent, the game as a Philly fan was tremendous!
I wonder how much of the dairy problem here is resultant from being fed poultry waste!
Yeesh.
I hope you don’t read any of this till after you’ve taken the afternoon off! Me, I don’t do TV or sports watching. But I’m off to the gym for a “break”.
Thanks Nancy! I share your disgust at this practice. I learned about it in another article a while back, maybe in The Atlantic. Seems like FDA is at least trying to change some of this:
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) tried to address this over the summer. looks like it’s in committee limbo, and sure to die under the current leadership:
“ WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the NO Stool in Herds’ Troughs (NO SHT) Act, legislation aimed at eliminating the egregious factory farm practice of adding animal excrement to livestock feed. This measure comes in the wake of the recent avian flu outbreak that has spread to cow herds across the United States, intensifying concerns over factory farming practices that pose a risk of spreading disease from animals to humans.
The NO SHT Act specifically targets the alarming practice of feeding chicken litter—which includes dead birds, feathers, and chicken excrement—to cows in large-scale feedlots and dairies. This surprisingly routine factory-farming practice, which has been banned in other developed countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom, has raised public health alarms due to the risk of spreading disease from chickens to cows.
The NO SHT Act would prohibit the intentional adding of excrement to animal feed. Specifically, the NO SHT Act would prohibit the manufacture or introduction into interstate commerce of animal feed containing excrement. This is an important step toward a rational public policy that protects the health and welfare of both animals and humans.
“We must put an end to unsanitary factory farming practices that prioritize profits over public health, including the feeding of poultry litter to cattle,” said Senator Booker. “Feeding animal waste to livestock is irresponsible and cruel. A healthy food system cannot contain these types of practices that pose a danger to human and animal health.”
I’m right with you on the football head traumas. Used to be a big college football fan, but can’t tune in anymore. I’m still a big fan of chili, however. Enjoy!
I know! It’s really hard for me to enjoy football or hockey, seeing what we’ve all seen, and knowing what we know… rationalizing this, many people are harmed or at risk with their employment. But still.
Chili? I wish we could all agree on spiciness level and +/- cilantro 😜
I called Mr. Cassidy's office and left a message on his machine requesting he vote no on RFK, Jr. I am trying to follow the news closely and keep up with all that is happening at breakneck speed. I have reached out to both of our NJ senators to ask them to look into what is happening with Mush and his intrusion into all of our personal information. Thank you for keeping us informed as we no longer can get information from CDC or NIH. Enjoy the game tonight as I will try to. Go Eagles!
Thank you Cindy! That’s awesome. I’ve left Cassidy three messages along the way, too. Appealed to whatever core physician loyalties and sensibilities he might still have intact as a practicing politician. Hope you enjoyed the game too!
Thank you, as always, for keeping us informed. I'm making a note to place some calls tomorrow. (And I hear you on how disconcerting it is to celebrate collective head trauma. . . .)
Thanks Catherine! This was a worthy use of my phone over the weekend, unlike so much else. Enjoyed the Eagles game, good for the city and its morale. We even had a little fun on Broad Street between Christian and Spruce before heading home again quickly before it got crazy. Probably won’t watch another head crunching game… until next year’s playoffs hypocritically.
I would be curious to know if those dairy workers who have had B3.13 are resistant to D1.1, sort of a cowpox/smallpox situation. Perhaps some animal studies could be done to find out. Unfortunately those would have to happen in a country that still supports medical research.
On the political side, it seems that, at this point, no one can stop the new administration from preventing the government from helping all Americans and keeping us safe. Many of his MAGA supporters, who have been drinking his Kool-Aid for years, will be the first to feel the pain and suffer the most.
If H5N1 explodes into our next pandemic, that will certainly derail what Mump is trying to do, as they will be no match for another pandemic. Just look at their track record with COVID-19—back then, there were still good people working both on the front lines and behind the scenes.
Thanks Arthur, I think the risk of attrition and healthcare workforce collapse in the event of a second pandemic, especially if H5N1 is more lethal than Covid, is pretty much assured. Just take a look at burnout rates, and the loss of respect for healthcare workers in general after the pandemic revisionism that has created demons out of fall guys like Dr. Fauci.
RFK Jr sued and tried to block the mRNA Covid shots that ended up saving tens of millions of lives, and prevented hundreds of millions of complications like long Covid in first time Covid patients who would have been infected without first being vaccinated.
Who wants to play on that kind of team? Who wants to die for that?
Have a relaxing day Dr Ryan. I've been tracking the avian and flu for quite some time thanks to the CDC EID newsletters I subscribe to. But since their suspension there's no way to know what's going on except from secondary sources. Make America healthy again is a sad joke.
Yes, and if you spend time on Bluesky or Reddit, you’ll find reports that the CDC under Trump withheld and then censored information about feline to human transmission cases that were to be reported in that MMWR weekly report. In my abundant free time I’m following the medical journals, the AP, NYT, CIDRAP, WastewaterSCAN, WHO, STAT News, etc. MAHA appeals to people who struggle with complexity, the scientific method, uncertainties and the self correcting mechanisms of science in general. Much easier to rail against Froot Loops than acknowledge the hard, imperfect, labyrinthine, expert work of public health and science.
For the life of me I can't figure out why they are crippling a country they profess to love.
Thank you for keeping us informed! I feel better just knowing you are paying attention and passing along the information to us!
Enjoy your chili and the game!!
Thanks Nancy, I enjoyed every minute of that game… a rare treat to have your team dominate so thoroughly! The chili was a 6 on a scale of 10, but not bad for freestyling without a recipe!
It’s really not the time to deliberately decimate the CDC and forbid publication of articles on bird flu in the MMWR— thank you for your service! B=bad— kind of the theme lately.
It’s becoming a perfect storm isn’t it? A storm within a storm within a storm. Not sure it’s going to have a happy ending… just sure there are many endings coming sooner than the world understands.
Could H5N1 survive pasteurization of dairy milk?
Hope this answer your question but stay away from raw milk.
FDA says no, and this page seems to have escaped recent administration information censoring:
https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/investigation-avian-influenza-h5n1-virus-dairy-cattle
Thank you, as usual you can be counted on for good info!
Even though the news these days between flu, Covid, H5N1, CDC, loss of NIH research funding and USAID isn't good, I appreciate that you delve into these topics and help us stay up-to-date. I hope you enjoy your chili and Super Bowl Sunday.
Thanks Pamela… I would be doing much of this for myself so I’m happy to synthesize and share when I can/feel it’s in my primary care lane. Chili was decent, the game as a Philly fan was tremendous!
Thanks for the informative article.
I read this today, and found it disheartening and problematic:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/chicken-waste-fed-to-cattle-may-be-behind-bird-flu-outbreak/
I wonder how much of the dairy problem here is resultant from being fed poultry waste!
Yeesh.
I hope you don’t read any of this till after you’ve taken the afternoon off! Me, I don’t do TV or sports watching. But I’m off to the gym for a “break”.
Be well.
Thanks Nancy! I share your disgust at this practice. I learned about it in another article a while back, maybe in The Atlantic. Seems like FDA is at least trying to change some of this:
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) tried to address this over the summer. looks like it’s in committee limbo, and sure to die under the current leadership:
“ WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the NO Stool in Herds’ Troughs (NO SHT) Act, legislation aimed at eliminating the egregious factory farm practice of adding animal excrement to livestock feed. This measure comes in the wake of the recent avian flu outbreak that has spread to cow herds across the United States, intensifying concerns over factory farming practices that pose a risk of spreading disease from animals to humans.
The NO SHT Act specifically targets the alarming practice of feeding chicken litter—which includes dead birds, feathers, and chicken excrement—to cows in large-scale feedlots and dairies. This surprisingly routine factory-farming practice, which has been banned in other developed countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom, has raised public health alarms due to the risk of spreading disease from chickens to cows.
The NO SHT Act would prohibit the intentional adding of excrement to animal feed. Specifically, the NO SHT Act would prohibit the manufacture or introduction into interstate commerce of animal feed containing excrement. This is an important step toward a rational public policy that protects the health and welfare of both animals and humans.
“We must put an end to unsanitary factory farming practices that prioritize profits over public health, including the feeding of poultry litter to cattle,” said Senator Booker. “Feeding animal waste to livestock is irresponsible and cruel. A healthy food system cannot contain these types of practices that pose a danger to human and animal health.”
https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-introduces-no-sht-act-bill-to-stop-the-feeding-of-excrement-to-livestock-on-factory-farms
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4562/committees
Thanks for that info, Ryan! God, it’s do depressing, isn’t it.
I’m right with you on the football head traumas. Used to be a big college football fan, but can’t tune in anymore. I’m still a big fan of chili, however. Enjoy!
I know! It’s really hard for me to enjoy football or hockey, seeing what we’ve all seen, and knowing what we know… rationalizing this, many people are harmed or at risk with their employment. But still.
Chili? I wish we could all agree on spiciness level and +/- cilantro 😜
Think we all could use a break. Developments in a number of areas have been so fast and furious, it's hard to catch our breath....
Agreed. As you know, that’s the strategy. I guess the resistance needs to go on offense in a similar way.
I agree with everything you said, except for the Eagle thing! Enjoy the game.
Well turns out I was wrong about the score and MVP, but enjoyed the lopsided win for sure :)
I called Mr. Cassidy's office and left a message on his machine requesting he vote no on RFK, Jr. I am trying to follow the news closely and keep up with all that is happening at breakneck speed. I have reached out to both of our NJ senators to ask them to look into what is happening with Mush and his intrusion into all of our personal information. Thank you for keeping us informed as we no longer can get information from CDC or NIH. Enjoy the game tonight as I will try to. Go Eagles!
Thank you Cindy! That’s awesome. I’ve left Cassidy three messages along the way, too. Appealed to whatever core physician loyalties and sensibilities he might still have intact as a practicing politician. Hope you enjoyed the game too!
Thank you, as always, for keeping us informed. I'm making a note to place some calls tomorrow. (And I hear you on how disconcerting it is to celebrate collective head trauma. . . .)
Thanks Catherine! This was a worthy use of my phone over the weekend, unlike so much else. Enjoyed the Eagles game, good for the city and its morale. We even had a little fun on Broad Street between Christian and Spruce before heading home again quickly before it got crazy. Probably won’t watch another head crunching game… until next year’s playoffs hypocritically.
I would be curious to know if those dairy workers who have had B3.13 are resistant to D1.1, sort of a cowpox/smallpox situation. Perhaps some animal studies could be done to find out. Unfortunately those would have to happen in a country that still supports medical research.
Agreed, that is really interesting. I asked Perplexity AI to search for anything about this and nothing found/ referenced for review. Good thinking!
Great update, Ryan.
On the political side, it seems that, at this point, no one can stop the new administration from preventing the government from helping all Americans and keeping us safe. Many of his MAGA supporters, who have been drinking his Kool-Aid for years, will be the first to feel the pain and suffer the most.
If H5N1 explodes into our next pandemic, that will certainly derail what Mump is trying to do, as they will be no match for another pandemic. Just look at their track record with COVID-19—back then, there were still good people working both on the front lines and behind the scenes.
Thanks Arthur, I think the risk of attrition and healthcare workforce collapse in the event of a second pandemic, especially if H5N1 is more lethal than Covid, is pretty much assured. Just take a look at burnout rates, and the loss of respect for healthcare workers in general after the pandemic revisionism that has created demons out of fall guys like Dr. Fauci.
RFK Jr sued and tried to block the mRNA Covid shots that ended up saving tens of millions of lives, and prevented hundreds of millions of complications like long Covid in first time Covid patients who would have been infected without first being vaccinated.
Who wants to play on that kind of team? Who wants to die for that?
Dr. M, I can't thank you enough for the factual , current info you share. I have more questions but I have to think.
Hope you had super bowl fun.