04/26/2023
I just got off the phone with one Dr. Segarnick. He's the Chief Medical Officer and Executive VP for MedEvoke, a medical education company that works with healthcare providers to inform them on new technologies, vaccinations, and treatments regarding human medical practices. Over the past decade, Dr. Segarnick has been writing about and researching the Avian Influenza (H5N1) virus.
If an Avian Flu vaccine becomes available at any point in the near future, DO NOT POLITICIZE IT! Protect yourselves...
A vaccination does exist and the country even has a stockpile of them on standby, however, we don't have nearly enough doses to vaccinate the 300+ million people who live in the US. While this virus doesn't EASILY infect humans, it is an influenza virus at its core. This means that the virus's molecular structure is literally preprogrammed to expose the disease to humans. Viruses mutate and develop quickly and without reason. All it takes is one mutated strain to infect one individual and suddenly, H5N1 is a human-vector virus. This isn't a matter of "if" an outbreak occurs, this is a matter of "when" an outbreak occurs, according to Dr. Segarnick.
Since 2003, the World Health Organization, (WHO), has received reports from 19 different countries detailing over 860 human infections with H5N1. The mortality rate of those infections was a whopping 53%. If that doesn't worry you, consider the fact that the virus has started spreading to various mammals around the world, indicating that it really wouldn't take much for H5N1 to start spreading from human-to-human or human-to-animal. Birds are reported to be, quite literally, falling out of the sky... Hundreds of millions of avian species globally have recently been infected and those numbers are continuing to increase. As Dr. Segarnick stated over the phone, "Viruses love these numbers".
We're still losing unvaccinated individuals to COVID-19 and if our response to an outbreak of H5N1 is anything like our response to coronavirus, your friends list is going to be a hell of a lot shorter. Wash your hands, don't touch dead birds, and if you keep birds, keep their surroundings clean and keep them away from your mouth, eyes, and face. Vaccinations for flocks are available and recommended as this virus continues to run rampant on a global scale.
There are three precautionary measures that Dr. Segarnick deems absolutely essential when addressing this outbreak on a governmental scale:
1.) We should establish a cabinet level office of Pandemic Preparedness.
2.) We should increase WHO surveillance, especially in Asia, where many of these outbreaks have been sourced.
3.) The federal government should support scientific, academic, and industry research surrounding the development of antivirals, vaccinations, and prevention techniques in regards to H5N1.
Dr. Segarnick also mentioned that public education and information is vital in regards to preventing the spread of H5N1, so I wanted to share some of these details from our conversation with you guys. This isn't meant to scare anyone. This post is simply an informative warning... Be on the lookout for cases of Avian Influenza in and around your communities. This virus could cause an absolutely catastrophic pandemic and that's the last thing we need right now.
Stay safe, stay green, and stay in the woods. 💚
- The Avian Conservationist
Pictured below: Avian Influenza A (H5N1)
Photo Credit: Cynthia Goldsmith and Jackie Katz (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC)
