Avian flu continues to spread in the U.S., with the prospects increasing that North America may be only a few mutations away from a potential human pandemic. Some 900 dairy herds have tested positive for it in 16 states, along with its spread through commercial and backyard poultry flocks. The Wall Street Journal, in a Feb. 17 article “First Cows, Now Cats. Is Bird Flu Coming for Humans Next?” reports on the worry of some scientists that, with so much H5N1 avian flu circulating, the public health threat is mounting.
The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI, A/H5N1) is spreading rapidly through U.S. poultry. From culling and sickness, an estimated 134 million birds—mostly chickens—have died since the latest outbreak was identified a year ago in February 2024, EIR reported on Feb. 2. It has spread from poultry and wild birds to cows. Now there are 68 confirmed cases in humans—most of them dairy workers—though public health officials think bird flu may be more widespread, the WSJ notes.
The concern is that it could generate sustained human-to-human transmission, although it has not happened yet. “If the virus figures out a way to adapt and start transmitting between humans, infections in the general population could go up exponentially overnight,” says Scott Hensley, a professor in the microbiology department at the University of Pennsylvania, who is working on developing a vaccine for H5N1 avian flu.
The WSJ also covers the recent news that “a second strain of bird flu—known as D1.1—recently spread from wild birds and poultry to cows in Nevada. A dairy worker in Nevada subsequently tested positive for this strain.”
“This is a major threat right now,” indicated microbiologist Hensley. “We know it’s only one or two mutations away from leading to very severe disease. And influenza viruses acquire mutations all the time.”
As U.S. living standards fall, measured by LaRouche’s concept of potential relative population- density; and as cartel-serving, vertically-integrated poultry production, and dairy mega-farms make it easier for quick disease transmission among these animals; there is an increasing likelihood for what LaRouche’s 1974 Biological Task Force study forecast as a breakdown, creating a series of pandemic diseases, some characterized by diseases making species jumps from animals to humans.