The growing threat from bird flu

America hasn’t learnt many lessons from the Covid epidemic, says Zeynep Tufekci. If it had, it would be taking the threat from H5N1 avian influenza far more seriously. The bird flu virus has already killed millions of birds and wild mammals around the world, and has now spread to at least 33 dairy herds in eight US states. Fragments of the virus have been detected in the commercial milk supply. Public health officials don’t know how many farmers have tested their cattle (they’ve only just made it mandatory even to report positive cases), and they’re still trying to work out how the virus is spreading. One theory is that it’s through cows’ feed, owing to the “fairly revolting fact” that America, unlike the UK and EU, allows farmers to feed chicken litter – feathers, excrement, spilled seeds – to their herds as a cheap source of extra protein. One person we know of so far has contracted the virus (a Texas dairy worker got a mild infection), but no testing regime is in place for vulnerable farmworkers. Rick Bright, an expert on H5N1 who until 2020 headed the federal agency responsible for fighting emerging pandemics, is alarmed by America’s lack of preparedness, should the virus become more dangerous. “This is a live fire test,” he says, “and right now we are failing it.”