A Concerned Scientist @BE@qoto.org

@DavidElfstrom @maleve @melanie

It's an old Netatmo weather station. Probably ca 2015.

When I zoomed in on the data on the 20th, for example, the highs are roughly the same from ~10:45PM until ~7:45 AM(within ~3%). Similarly, the lows are roughly the same from ~12:00 until ~4:00PM.

It is pretty deep in a valley, so often there's no direct sunlight after mid-afternoon, even in the summer, and none at all in the winter.

@DavidElfstrom @maleve @melanie

That's pretty cool, and something I really didn't know about until I put a weather station with CO2 at our homestead on the edge of the forest and noticed the pattern. We're about ~1/2 mile to the nearest other person, and ~15 miles to the nearest town, which only has ~3,000 people, I believe, and thousands of acres of just forest in all other directions.

I wasn't trying to capture this, so it's probably not ideally located, but, it's on the side of a shed in a valley, with forest completely circling the small meadow it's in.

You can see the daily pattern, and we did hit 751ppm CO2 one night around 3:30AM last week. We aren't there at the moment, either, so this is unmanned CO2 data.

@jmcrookston

We're in this loop with COVID stuff where things we knew years ago keep being reported as new. Probably where we're headed with flu info, too.

@PacificNic

It's my understanding that current wastewater testing for Influenza A would catch an H5N1 outbreak. While I can't find any research confirming that, it IS a subtype of "Influenza A" so it makes sense.

If so, the wastewater does not show any signs of a human outbreak of H5N1.

https://biobot.io/risk-reports/influenza-and-rsv-wastewater-monitoring-in-the-u-s-week-of-april-22-2024/

@rolandelli

I've thought a bit about this for gardening and growing your own vegetables, at least. While I couldn't find a good study on H5N1, specifically, a 10% vinegar wash does inactivate H1N1.

A lot of people do wash veggies with vinegar solution already, so it seems like a good idea when possible given the possibility of wild bird feces anyway.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2813869/

(Edited to add the paper 🙄 )

@Infoseepage

I would say obfuscate in place of minimize, but otherwise, yeah. They, at least, were careful to say that the milk MIGHT not be safe, etc. What they're doing is obfuscating in deference to dairy and cattle farmers, I think.

"The USDA did not respond to STAT’s questions about the rationale for the 30-animal cap."

I get the feeling questions are being asked, but, they're under no obligation to answer them at this point.

@Infoseepage

Absolutely. That info's in the thread above this latest one.

We also don't know about how milk transports around the country. I do know someone who purchases for a grocery chain and I reached out and she basically just said it's all algorithmically determined now and the milk in your store might come from your state or across the country at any given moment.

We simply don't have enough info to make firm conclusions, and that's a choice that's been made on purpose.

Statnews.com's update today with a few interesting tidbits again:

https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/26/h5n1-bird-flu-usda-cattle-testing-order-more-limited/

"farmers only have to test up to 30 animals in a given group. The guidance does not say how farmers should determine which 30 animals to test in larger groups that are being readied to be moved. The USDA did not respond to STAT’s questions about the rationale for the 30-animal cap."

"Under the new rules, cows that are to be moved between states must have samples collected and tested no more than a week prior to transport. A licensed or accredited veterinarian has to collect the samples — between 3 and 10 milliliters of milk per animal taken from each of the four teats. That’s very important, the USDA noted, because there have been reports of infected animals having virus in only one teat.

A strange feature of H5N1’s jump from birds into cows is that the virus seems to have developed an affinity for mammary tissue. Samples from sick cows show the highest levels of virus not in their noses but in their milk, suggesting that udders seem to be where H5N1 migrates to or infects."

"The USDA order does not apply to beef cattle or non-lactating dairy cattle, including calves, due to their lower risk profile, according to the guidance. But influenza researchers told STAT that not enough yet is known about the risks to non-lactating animals to leave them out."

34 herds in 9 states now confirmed:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/livestock

But almost certainly far more widespread.

"On Friday, the FDA issued an update saying that tests of several samples of retail powdered infant and toddler formula were negative, indicating no presence of H5N1 viral fragments or whole virus. It provided no details on the quantity tested."

"At this time, there have been no reported cases of H5N1-positive dairy cattle exhibiting any signs of neurological disease in the U.S."