Is Bird Flu a deadly virus requiring vaccine mandates?
OR Is it a rare infection that is not easily transmissible?
Today I received my first issue of “Bottom Line Health” a monthly newsletter with articles about health and advice about keeping fit and healthy throughout life. I used to find this report quite helpful and relied on it for information about avoiding infections, cancer, diabetes, heart disease—and other conditions of elderly people (I am now 81).
I last subscribed over four years ago. Meanwhile Covid has made me an avid consumer of alternative media. I have subscribed to over 100 substack providers and watched as many interviews on YouTube, Rumble, and X channels. I try to examine both sides of various controversial issues.
This month the lead article is “Should You Worry About the New Bird flu?” (Erica Susky, MSc, Bottomline Health, September 2024k V38, No. 9 pp1, 12). I found myself fact checking this article in my mind and disagreeing with almost every other sentence. I will list each statement that evoke I wanted to challenge.
1. Bird flu has spread from birds to mammals-- like foxes, raccoons, lions, and sea lions. There was a massive die off of 25,000 sea lions in South America. In 2024, H1N5 spread to cows in America, infecting 137 herds across 12 states. This report suggests that thousands of animals are infected and dying. The author describes H5N1 bird flu as “a new and uniquely contagious and deadly strain of the bird flu virus.” NOTE: H1N5 is a different variant. A massive die off of sea lions isn’t matched by similar die offs in chickens, cows, or humans.
What does that mean? How many cows are infected? Is it one cow in a herd of thousands? How many died? “A U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesperson said the agency knew of a few deaths but that the vast majority of cows recover well.” https://www.reuters.com/world/us/cows-infected-with-bird-flu-have-died-five-us-states-2024-06-06/ Meryl argues that often the CDC will reimburse the farmer for slaughtering his entire flock of chickens—even if only one bird was infected. They then count the entire flock as cases of infection.
2. Bird flu can spread from cows to humans. “Exposure to those cows has led to four human cases of H5N1 in the United States.” However, none of these cases was serious and no one died. The CDC wrote: “Sporadic infections with highly pathogenic avian influenza A viruses in mammals have been reported in the United States, Canada, and other countries, but the risk to the general public from these viruses remains low.” The CDC also wrote: “Only four human infections with low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI)* A(H7N2) viruses resulting in mild-to-moderate illness have ever been identified in the United States.” https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/inhumans.html
3. “Since 2000, 888 people in 23 countries have been infected with bird flu, and 463 have died, a fatality rate of 52 percent.” Is 888 a lot of deaths? Every year from 12,000 to 52,000 people die of the flu in the U.S. “According to CDC data, the flu led to 15 million medical visits, over 360,000 hospitalizations, and 21,410 deaths during the 2022–23 season.” https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-people-die-flu/
The numbers indicate that flu is much more contagious than bird flu. Hundreds of thousands get infected—but less than 2% die. However, for H5N1 hardly anyone gets infected. According to Meryl Nass (see link below), most of the infected people were farmers who cared for birds infected with the flu. Many of these farmers were living and even sleeping with their birds. Death is not a problem if nobody catches the disease.
4. Bird flu is so deadly in humans because they lack antibodies to fight it. As a result, the virus overwhelms the system triggering acute respiratory distress syndrome, ARDS. ARDS is the typical cause of death in people dying from COVID-19.
I would like to see evidence that people dying from bird flu all died because of ARDS. Antibodies have been considered a proxy for immunity—but there is no proof that this is always true. The author ignores the role of the native immune system in fighting off immunity. There is a logical fallacy in comparing bird flu to Covid based on the fact that both infections cause death from ARDS. Covid is transmissible from human to human and many more Covid cases and deaths exist than bird flu cases and deaths.
5. “Scientists are now seeing the virus spread from cow to cow, which is worrisome because it increases the risk that the virus might someday evolve to spread between humans.” The author does not say how often the virus spreads, so we cannot determine the risk.
The author then shares what people should do to prevent infection with bird flu. She advises the following actions:
1. Always mask with N95 respirator and wear gloves and goggles. Discard after each interaction with animals. NOTE: That masking has not been effective for preventing Covid infection. Why should it work for preventing flu? For farmers who interact frequently with chickens or cows, the cost might be prohibitive.
2. Avoid touching your face if you have contact with animals or places that animals might have contaminated. NOTE: We do not know if bird flu can be transmitted by fomites. Covid is not transmitted in this way.
3. Do not drink raw milk since viral fragments were found in commercial milk supply. Pasteurization probably inactivates the bird flu virus. NOTE: If PCR was used to detect bird flu virus, it produces many false positives.
4. Cook all beef, poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Wash hands frequently as well as surfaces used to prepare food. NOTE: There is no evidence presented that bird flu can be transmitted through food.
5. Avoid all wild birds and wild bird carcasses. Presume all wild birds are infected. Be wary of wild birds that do not show fear of humans. NOTE: Dr. Meryl Nass has presented evidence (see below) that many wild birds test positive for bird flu—but show no symptoms.
6. Get a flu vaccine to protect against the possibility of getting both regular flu and bird flu. NOTE: It’s possible that vaccine places a strain on the immune system which might make the chance of infection more likely.
It seems there are many treatments, and some are costly or time consuming to apply. The author has not mentioned bird flu vaccines, but I understand these have already been developed and are in the pipeline. This article justifies the slaughter of our food animals in order to avoid bird flu—because avian flu is so deadly and therefore requires every precaution we can put in place to reduce or prevent it. Comparing bird flu to Covid and emphasizing its lethality creates a level of fear that would justify these treatments—as well as many more.
Dr. Meryl Nass presented a webinar with different viewpoints She argues that Bird Flu is not a credible threat since the number of diagnosed cases is so low.
Can we reduce our fear and examine the realistic threats from this infection?
When I refer to Meryl, I was referring to Meryl Nass, a Maine physician who recently lost her license because she questioned the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Right after 9/11 (collapse of the Twin Towers), Meryl Nass was reporting on the exaggerated dangers of Anthrax. At the time, I recall I was concerned. Recently Meryl reported that a lot of the health problems of our military are because of or exacerbated by their heavy burden of vaccines. I think she argues that "Gulf War syndrome," is perhaps an adverse vaccine reaction.