Overall I like your alarmist TED talk. I can't blame anyone for worrying about this.
Here's the deal, to me. There's any number of zoonotic diseases that are a mutation or two away from infecting people. Before COVID I would say 99.9% of people never gave them a second thought. They will only increase as human population digs deeper into forests and whatnot, and with climate change.
On bird flu itself, I'm moderately alarmed, but, I was moderately alarmed a year ago, and the cows thing hasn't QUITE moved me beyond that.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2801499
Mammals, in general, was what moved it from mild to moderate, at least for me.
But here's the thing. That last step, or a few steps, into virulent spread in humans might be tomorrow or it might be the 2120 pandemic. These things have a tendency to not happen on anyone else's schedule.
I think I mentioned this recently, and you've talked about COVID precautions overlapping with H5N1 precautions, but where we're at in our family is that we did a fresh mask fit test a week or two ago. I read the WHO and USDA updates, and, yes, the USDA is being super sketchy about this, which has piqued my curiosity. It's hard to tell if they're purposefully hiding something, if they're just totally in bed with industry, or if they're incompetent.
Prepare, not panic. I think @NilaJones mentioned stocking up on meat from a local farm, and while I thought that was brave with all the vegans lurking around, it was good advice for the meat eaters amongst us. Know your egg substitutes.
Pigs.
When word comes down that it has started spreading in pigs, then it's time to become more than moderately concerned.
@Edelruth @PacificNic @NilaJones
No argument there. That would be another significant step.
