Bird flu--not just for birds
July 14, 2024 3:38 AM Subscribe
Bird flu has been found in an ever-expanding variety of species and it likes the brain Also, for the first time there has been a rabies outbreak in marine mammals. I expect there is going to be more fun on the horizon for all of us soon.
From the bird flu article:
"In spring 2022, a handful of red foxes in Wisconsin were behaving oddly. Veterinary pathologist Betsy Elsmo learned that a local wildlife rehabilitation center was caring for foxes with neurological symptoms like seizures, tremors, uncoordinated movements and lethargy.
[...]
Additional testing confirmed the diagnosis in the kit and the other foxes, Elsmo and colleagues reported in the December 2023 Emerging Infectious Diseases. The animals had contracted a lethal strain of H5N1 avian influenza that emerged in late 2020 in Europe and has since spread around the world. At the time infections were discovered in the Wisconsin red foxes, bird flu was expanding its incursion into North America."
And from the rabies article:
"Scientists from the University of Pretoria are sequencing the virus to determine where and when rabies entered the seal population. Rabies is endemic among many wild animals in southern Africa (jackals, for example) but most of these animals do not live close to humans.
Seal behaviour started to change a few years ago. Oelofse and his team noticed a marked increase in seal aggression in Cape Town in late 2021, after intermittent reports of seals attacking humans."
From the bird flu article:
"In spring 2022, a handful of red foxes in Wisconsin were behaving oddly. Veterinary pathologist Betsy Elsmo learned that a local wildlife rehabilitation center was caring for foxes with neurological symptoms like seizures, tremors, uncoordinated movements and lethargy.
[...]
Additional testing confirmed the diagnosis in the kit and the other foxes, Elsmo and colleagues reported in the December 2023 Emerging Infectious Diseases. The animals had contracted a lethal strain of H5N1 avian influenza that emerged in late 2020 in Europe and has since spread around the world. At the time infections were discovered in the Wisconsin red foxes, bird flu was expanding its incursion into North America."
And from the rabies article:
"Scientists from the University of Pretoria are sequencing the virus to determine where and when rabies entered the seal population. Rabies is endemic among many wild animals in southern Africa (jackals, for example) but most of these animals do not live close to humans.
Seal behaviour started to change a few years ago. Oelofse and his team noticed a marked increase in seal aggression in Cape Town in late 2021, after intermittent reports of seals attacking humans."
posted by Didnt_do_enough
eponysterical? epidemiosterical?
posted by lalochezia at 4:57 AM on July 14 [2 favorites]
eponysterical? epidemiosterical?
posted by lalochezia at 4:57 AM on July 14 [2 favorites]
Deliriously interesting times, these.
posted by non canadian guy at 5:12 AM on July 14 [1 favorite]
posted by non canadian guy at 5:12 AM on July 14 [1 favorite]
@lextex My sympathies. I got back on Twitter after cutting it out for a year, and there are so many personal stories about how long Covid is destroying lives, and that Covid never went away. I hope that you get better soon, and if you are not on Twitter currently, maybe you can go there and see if a fellow sufferer has advice on how to improve the situation.
posted by Didnt_do_enough at 5:34 AM on July 14 [1 favorite]
posted by Didnt_do_enough at 5:34 AM on July 14 [1 favorite]
You misworded ...for the first time there has been a rabies outbreak in marine mammals. We knew there was the possibility of rabies in marine mammals, we just hadn't documented it. Active rabies is scary, the cherry on top is the aggressive behavior change without any evidence of rabies present. Especially, not just understandably defensive behavior, but aggressive behavior in an animal not noted for it. What's missing that we're not seeing?
Enviornmental degradation isn't going to get better before it gets worse, we can only hope to halt the damage. If we're going to get out of this mess it will be only by strenuously acting to reduce our numbers while making sure we have as healthy a population as possible with adequate food, shelter, and healthcare for all, especially the most venerable among us. Funding needs to be allocated for research on detection, prevention and mitigation. Meanwhile, we need to be taking immediate steps for prophylaxes, whether it be by masking, vaccines, etc.
Who am I kidding? We're fucked.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:15 AM on July 14 [4 favorites]
Enviornmental degradation isn't going to get better before it gets worse, we can only hope to halt the damage. If we're going to get out of this mess it will be only by strenuously acting to reduce our numbers while making sure we have as healthy a population as possible with adequate food, shelter, and healthcare for all, especially the most venerable among us. Funding needs to be allocated for research on detection, prevention and mitigation. Meanwhile, we need to be taking immediate steps for prophylaxes, whether it be by masking, vaccines, etc.
Who am I kidding? We're fucked.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:15 AM on July 14 [4 favorites]
lextex: You're not alone: ‘Playing COVID roulette’: Some infected by FLiRT variants report their most unpleasant symptoms yet (LA Times)
posted by hydropsyche at 2:53 PM on July 14
posted by hydropsyche at 2:53 PM on July 14
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posted by lextex at 4:13 AM on July 14 [3 favorites]