Perhaps we can blame COVID fatigue for numbing us to the risks of other viruses. But it should be bigger news that a bird flu has mutated to spread through mammals and is ominously appearing among wild and domesticated animals around the globe. In the past, the inability to spread from one mammal to another was the barrier that prevented bird flu, H5N1 — which has a 50% fatality rate in humans — from becoming a human pandemic. It's not clear this version, which spread through minks, would be easily transmitted in people, but it has made a step in a dangerous direction.
It’s unthinkable to consider lockdowns or mask mandates over some new disease, which is why it’s better to take simpler, less costly action early. What matters now is surveillance among farmed animals and giving up particularly dangerous practices. Maybe we just can’t have mink coats and cheap eggs.
One reason there so many dangerous animal viruses around now is that the crowded conditions of mass-farmed animals tend to spread viruses — and there has never been more worldwide demand for meat, dairy products and eggs. As one investigation revealed, egg-laying chickens in big operations are genetically identical, have no immunity to influenza and make easy kindling for viral bonfires.
