H5N1 Bird Flu Isn’t a Human Pandemic—Yet
www.scientificamerican.com
Americans don’t like being told what to do, and many don’t trust government. These stubborn attitudes might turn H5N1 bird flu into a pandemic

When H5N1 avian influenza started spreading among dairy cattle across the U.S. this year, regulators warned against consuming unpasteurized milk. What happened? Raw milk sales went up.

Distributors of this unsafe-for-human-consumption product deny H5N1—which has the potential to sicken millions of people—is a danger. Dairy farmers decline to allow disease detectives onto their properties.

  • ealoe
    1·
    5 months ago

    Don’t take it from me, here is the literal CDC Facebook page telling people in Feb 2020 not to wear masks. And here is a scientific paper analyzing comments on their Facebook page comparing reactions of citizens to that Feb 2020 announcement, and the later April 2020 announcement where they did recommend masks. The paper explores lessons public health officials can learn from the failed messaging, it’s important to learn what we can so we’re ready for the next one. I do believe they were doing their best but this messaging was a mistake and it absolutely contributed to the confusion around this virus early on.

    CDC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cdc/posts/pfbid02f4JBbsKWeEvZe1c6V1Gsvs1jDixoH9qRpwonebiY4QtaJGVaXs9K4FnNqB91cAm3l?__cft__[0]=AZWtQDpU3TRZ9RTLJrbXWOi98FW5DhWq8Uskn3vssi5Eh_t3VEgPvRH2NGGcIJrcpVwGLFBS-lk3i80XNb7v9dR_N2knM_cpoGlnaIB32ak2QhdrBzTxiC_xSYgwGTTLxc-DYG_nCjemFllecZwyR2vo&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

    Paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10298096/#B3-ijerph-20-06062

    • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
      11·
      5 months ago

      Wondering if a mask would protect you from COVID-19? CDC does not currently recommend the general American public use a facemask to protect against novel coronavirus. Only healthcare professionals caring for COVID-19 patients, people who are sick with COVID-19, or in some cases people caring for patients who are sick with COVID-19 need precautions like a facemask to help limit their risk of spreading COVID-19.

      CDC always recommends everyday preventive actions, like staying home when you are sick and washing hands with soap and water, to help prevent the spread of respiratory illness.

      This literally says exactly what I just did. Wearing a mask will not protect you from getting covid or any other disease but it can protect other people from catching it from you by stopping you from spreading it.

      P.S. and yes, at the time healthcare professionals needed the masks desperately so that they could administer to patients without the fear of spreading the disease all over the place if they caught it because COVID has such a long incubation period that overlaps significantly with its shedding phase.