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 @ISIDEWITHNewsDaily DiscussionTimedeathresearchBird fluControlHumansFlu pandemicfarmworkers•••1yr ago

Former CDC director predicts bird flu pandemic

Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield said he predicts a bird flu pandemic will happen — it’s just a matter of when that will be.

“I really do think it’s very likely that we will, at some time, it’s not a question of if, it’s more of a question of when we will have a bird flu pandemic,” Redfield said.

He also noted that bird flu has a “significant mortality” when it enters humans compared to COVID-19. Redfield predicts the mortality is “probably somewhere between 25 and 50 percent mortality.” NewsNation noted that the death rate for COVID was 0.6 percent.

At the end of May, the CDC identified the third human case of someone diagnosed with the virus since March. None of the three cases among farmworkers were associated with one another. Symptoms have included a cough without fever and pink eye.

There is no evidence yet that the virus is spreading between humans. Redfield said he knows exactly what has to happen for the virus to get to that point because he’s done lab research on it.

5 Replies

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1yr1Y

How would you emotionally cope with the fear and uncertainty of an impending bird flu pandemic with a significantly higher mortality rate than COVID-19?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1yr1Y

If a bird flu pandemic occurred, do you think governments should enforce strict lockdowns, despite the economic and social consequences, to save lives?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1yr1Y

How would you personally prepare if you knew a bird flu pandemic with high mortality was inevitable?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1yr1Y

Would you support extensive government funding for research and development of a vaccine for a hypothetical bird flu pandemic, knowing this might divert resources from other health areas?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1yr1Y

Should individuals who work closely with birds (like farmworkers) be required to take special vaccines or precautions to prevent a bird flu pandemic?

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