Bird Flu Is Raging on a Mink Farm. It Could Spark a Human Pandemic, Experts Say, but Officials Won’t Act.
www.propublica.org
Federal officials brushed off the issue as Utah prioritized the fur industry’s interests. Little has been done to stop the spread of the virus and ensure it can’t spread to humans, a failure that experts called “irresponsible” and “astounding.”

Reporting Highlights

  • Deadly Outbreak: A bird flu outbreak has been raging uncontrolled on a Utah mink farm for two months. Flu experts fear it could spark a devastating human pandemic.
  • Government Failures: State officials didn’t order the mink to be killed, which other countries with outbreaks have done. They are prioritizing the financial interests of the fur trade.
  • Silent Risks: Despite CDC guidance urging officials to monitor workers, they actively chose not to and declined to test workers — including one with a symptom experts said would warrant testing.
    • BananaTrifleViolin@piefed.worldEnglish
      10·
      3 days ago

      Supposedly Russia updated the World Health Organisation last week to say the young lab worker who died did not die of parapneumonic plague and that no pathogens have been identified so far. They’ve also quarantined 200 of her contacts.

      It suggests both that they are taking this very seriously and that something probably DID happen. That one is looking like a near miss, but with the big caveat that who knows how much Russia is actually revealing.

      • typo@sh.itjust.works
        4·
        3 days ago

        Shit man, I need to keep more aware of actual stories and not the swamp. I forgot about that and was trying to think of if there was a mink farm outbreak in Russia, thanks for the update