One of the long-running stories I’ve been following over the last year is the spread of H5N1 (bird flu). I initially noticed it because we were having trouble with dairy herds in North Texas and there were some articles in the local and state press about it. There was some talk of it jumping to cats and to humans, but nobody had died of it.
That has now changed. The first bird flu death happened this week in Louisiana. News reports say he was over 65 and had underlying conditions, which is supposed to relieve the public but honestly scares me. Most of us have underlying conditions these days; I have several. If you take meds for any chronic health problem, congratulations: you’re on the less valuable list of people who can die without alarming the masses.
As a person with a chronic illness, I’m well aware that COVID isn’t over. I have a large enough circle of in-person and online friends that I get regular reports of folks who are getting the current strain even after they’ve had previous rounds. I also know a number of people who’ve had aftereffects that range from the mild to the completely debilitating. We don’t do enough in America, and certainly not in North Texas, to protect folks from COVID. That we’re starting to see people die from H5N1 and not taking measures to protect ourselves is terrifying, especially with an anti-vaccine Health and Human Services Secretary about to be nominated by the new administration. It’s only a matter of time before we get human-to-human transmission, and we could get back to where we were in March 2020 but without the will to lock down all too easily.
I’m also selfishly scared for cats. My cats are indoor-only, don’t drink raw milk, and don’t eat raw food. But I’m going to be very careful about touching any outdoor cats and potentially bringing deadly germs home to them.