As the scale of the bird flu outbreak among cattle becomes clearer, so does the need to quickly get a better handle on a number of basic facts. Namely, how far this H5N1 virus has spread, how it is spreading and where this situation is likely to develop further. The COVID-19-weary public also wants to know if people are at risk.
Government agencies need to move faster and work together more efficiently to answer some of these unknown questions. After all, this is a pathogen that has gained a lot of attention in the minds of infectious disease experts for its potential to cause a deadly human pandemic.
“It’s fair to say that for every question we answered in the last month, we have 10 to 15 new questions,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy in Minnesota.
