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Medicine United States

CDC Confirms First Human Case of Severe Bird Flu In US 83

The CDC has confirmed the first case of severe bird flu in the United States. NPR reports: Louisiana health officials initially reported the infection last week, saying a person was hospitalized after being exposed to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks. On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared their findings that indicate the H5N1 virus responsible for the illness belongs to a genetic lineage that's circulating in wild birds and poultry -- different from what's spreading in dairy cattle and driving the majority of infections in agricultural workers.

In the U.S., more than 60 people have been infected so far, although some research suggests the official tally may be an undercount. The illnesses linked to dairy cattle have largely led to mild illnesses in humans.

The version of the virus in the Louisiana case is the so-called "D1.1 genotype." It has previously popped up in poultry workers in Washington state, who developed mild symptoms after testing positive in October. More recently, however, a teenager in British Columbia was hospitalized after contracting this D1.1 strain of the virus. Canadian health officials were unable to figure out how that person was infected.
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis with the CDC, told reporters on Wednesday that bird blu has a well-established history of leading to severe illness and death. He added: "Infections without a clear source of exposure do occur, neither these cases nor the cases with known animal or animal products exposure have resulted in human to human transmission." California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency as the H5N1 bird flu virus moves from the Central valley to Southern California herds. The declaration will allow for a more streamlined approach among state and local agencies to tackle the virus, providing "flexibility around staffing, contracting, and other rules to support California's evolving response,'" reports the Los Angeles Times, citing a statement from Newsom's office.

"Building on California's testing and monitoring system -- the largest in the nation -- we are committed to further protecting public health, supporting our agriculture industry, and ensuring that Californians have access to accurate, up-to-date information," said Newsom in a statement. "While the risk to the public remains low, we will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of this virus."

Further reading:
US Government Orders Nationwide Testing of Milk for Bird Flu to Stop the Virus's Spread
Bird Flu Fears Stoke the Race for an mRNA Flu Vaccine
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CDC Confirms First Human Case of Severe Bird Flu In US

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  • by Anonymous Coward
    You may get another go-around in 2025! Hook the PS5 back up in the home office and clear your schedule!
    • I can waste time at the office just as easily.

      • I waste *way* more time in office then when I was left alone to work from home.

        But that's not the point, the point is to keep commercial real estate values up and to do stealth layoffs.
    • by Jayhawk0123 ( 8440955 ) on Wednesday December 18, 2024 @07:43PM (#65023807)

      weirdly our office had a larger big screen, couches and multiple gaming consoles.. plus beer in the fridge... we weirdly got more accomplished working from home and never used the stuff at the offices... but did have team gaming nights (after work) between management and staff playing video games to relax even pre-wfh.

      Staff were happier, clients were scoring us with higher satisfaction scores... revenue and profits all saw record high increases... and so was team engagement and retention...

      If you trust your staff, hold them accountable and people act like adults... WFH can be a success... all without heavy handed monitoring/surveillance.

      That BS attitude above ("get another go-around in 2025! Hook the PS5 back up in the home office and clear your schedule!") is from those that don't know how to manage teams, or are themselves that staff member everyone hopes would get fired for ruining a good thing for everyone by doing stupid crap. So i get why it was posted as A/C.

      The push for return to office is a stealth lay-off and studies are finally coming out stating what everyone has been saying - the best/highest performing employees leave when you force RTO.

      • The absolute best company I worked for did exactly this, until it got bought out. WFH just worked, and from all measures, there was effectively zero change between when people were at the office versus when people were at home. Of course, the 2020 transition was bumpy, but the BCP plan had it in place where all employees had good laptops under warranty just in case of a disaster. No Big Brother spying, not even staring at Event Viewer logs. You can tell who is performing and who isn't without any of tha

      • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 ) on Wednesday December 18, 2024 @08:37PM (#65023915)

        Yeah, none of that is important. For people like the OP the misery is the point. It might be because they're authoritarians who think it's good for everyone to be bossed around and to obey. They might be religious types who think it makes you a better person, or more godly, or not a papist. Most likely they were just raised by one of those, or their parents were, and they soaked up the attitude without ever thinking about where it came from or why they feel that way.

        • by jay age ( 757446 )

          “How does one man assert his power over another, Winston?“

          Winston thought. “By making him suffer”, he said.

          “Exactly. By making him suffer. Obedience is not enough."

    • Come now, I think most of us who are not leftists expected this. We're going to have another pandemic. Hopefully this one has a mortality rate of 90%.
  • Trump to take office. Ladies and gentlemen, grab your popcorn.
    • popcorn... and Trump approved disinfectant injections?

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by gtall ( 79522 )

        Guess where the fluorescent tubes go?

        RFK Jr.: Mr. President, I'm terribly sorry you contacted the Bird Flu, Version 2.5, it's rather vicious. I'm here to disinfect you.

        el Bunko: Sure, what must I do.

        RFK Jr.: I need to insert this fluorescent tube.

        el Bunko leans back in chair and opens mouth

        RFK. Jr.: Not there, stand up, drop your pants, and bend over the Oval Office....no, not Melania, she closed that thing during your last alleged presidency.

        el Bunko: Are you sure this is safe?

        RFK Jr.: Oh fer sure, fer sur

  • No need to fear (Score:3, Insightful)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Wednesday December 18, 2024 @06:56PM (#65023671)
    we just put a genius in charge and the leader of the Fauci ouchi is retiring.

    Now if RFK jr can just get rid of the pesky Polio vaccine...
    • by skam240 ( 789197 )

      I've always resented vaccines for not allowing for my freedom to be killed or crippled by Polio.

      • No joke. I found out recently I wasn't vaccinated against Measles. My mom was a nutter and I suspected so I got checked.

        Polio is harder. I haven't been able to find a lab that can test me.
        • by skam240 ( 789197 )

          Ha, family. We dont get to chose them or their beliefs.

          Is there some sort of down side to being vaccinated for polio a second time? You do you of course but with the increasing numbers of unvaccinated kids I know I take at least a little relief in the fact that at least I've had my shots.

          • the docs don't really know because it's not the sort of thing that comes up. We had all but eradicated polio so besides specialists in the field nobody really knows much.

            It's like how there aren't a lot of Z80 assembly programmers left.
            • by BranMan ( 29917 )

              "It's like how there aren't a lot of Z80 assembly programmers left."

              [raises hand] Still here. Might be a bit rusty.

        • My mom was a nutter and I suspected

          Trust me we also suspected :-P

    • Good. Maybe we won't send samples to a lab in China for experimentation.
  • What are you waiting for?
    • No. I like being able to think because i have a good quality diet. I leave the veganism to you guys.
  • On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency "to streamline and expedite the stateâ(TM)s response" to bird flu. There have been 33 cases of human bird flu confirmed in California this year, according to the CDC.

    With more than 35 million residents in California, the risk is literally less than one in a million, and the governor is already declaring a state of emergency!

    It's one thing to lament the online conspiracy theorists, but quite another when the governor makes c

    • Re: (Score:1, Flamebait)

      He needs to declare a state of emergency before he can mobilize the National Guard (that's in the state constitution). Funny how this is *right* before Trump's inauguration.
      • by skam240 ( 789197 )

        And a month from now when nothing happens in regards to this will you learn a lesson or will you just invent a new fiction to try to demonize the other side with?

        Never mind the fact that California mobilizing its national guard would do absolutely nothing to halt the coming transfer of power.

      • Can you enlighten me why a state on the complete opposite side of the country would need the national guard on inauguration day? Not like we're going to have another January 6th.

      • Nice troll. Do you have evidence that Newsome is planning to fly them all to Washington to attempt a Trump-style coup?

    • by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Wednesday December 18, 2024 @07:30PM (#65023773)

      Don't know what declaring a state of emergency means, do ya? It doesn't mean what you think it means. The declaration is exactly what you quoted. It expedites the state's response to a situation. Normally disparate organizations who don't interact all that much would come together as one unit and combine their efforts. It streamlines processes and allows for faster response to a situation than otherwise would normally exist. Here is a description [ncdps.gov] of what it means to declare a state of emergency.

      • Your points are correct, but declaring a state of emergency also brings in federal funding to help with the situation (as your link mentions). This is almost certainly the reason the governor declared a state of emergency. I can't say I disagree with him on that decision.
        • You know you're in trouble when your government considers cooperation between departments something that requires an emergency before it happens.

    • by test321 ( 8891681 ) on Wednesday December 18, 2024 @07:55PM (#65023837)

      Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, daily news are wondering while the US take so long to react. Here one paper 'America's handling of the bird flu crisis is putting, and will continue to put, the entire world at risk' https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opin... [lemonde.fr] (paywalled, but first paragraphs readable; English version for your convenience).

    • by dryeo ( 100693 )

      Perhaps to make it easier to help the chicken/turkey farmers? Up here in BC, one fuck of a lot of bird farms have had to kill their flocks.

  • by battingly ( 5065477 ) on Wednesday December 18, 2024 @07:58PM (#65023847)

    Starting next month, the CDC will be gutted. We'll all be back in the 19th century, dying from easily preventable diseases.

  • This is zoonosis in action: pathogens jumping from species to species, including humans, which happens all the time.

    So, when you see claims about the lab leak theory for SARS-CoV-2, remember that zoonosis and natural origins is where the evidence points [slashdot.org] ...

"Never face facts; if you do, you'll never get up in the morning." -- Marlo Thomas

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