Dr. Rick Bright, the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority who filed a whistleblower complaint against the Trump administration for ignoring his warnings about the COVID-19 pandemic, is ringing the alarm on a drug resistant bird flu.
"No way to minimize emergence of antiviral drug resistance from human #H5N1 virus w/ pandemic potential. Time to re-assess the IRAT risk tool," Bright published on his X account on Thursday.
We now know why it took so long for CDC to share these results. Hoping they don’t try to spin or minimize significance of these data. No way to minimize emergence of antiviral drug resistance from human #H5N1 virus w/ pandemic potential. Time to re-assess the IRAT risk tool.
— Rick Bright (@RickABright) November 14, 2024
In a separate post, he added that the mutation caused by the virus is known to associate with drug resistance to Oseltamivir, a popular drug for treating and preventing influenza (the flu).
Bright stated in his whistleblower complaint that he raised concerns about the U.S.' preparedness for COVID-19 in January 2020 but leaders at the Department of Health and Human Services reacted with "indifference which then developed into hostility." He was then removed from his position and demoted by the Trump administration before resigning in October 2020.
His warnings come on the heels of news that a "healthy" teen in Canada was the first to contract bird flu and is now in critical condition, according to a CNN report. His first symptoms started a week before he was hospitalized and included a fever, cough, and conjunctivitis, or pink eye.
Since April 2024, 44 people across the U.S. have contracted bird flu, according to the CDC. Twenty of those cases were dairy farm workers in California and nine were poultry farm workers in Washington state.
Originally published by Latin Times
