The CDC issued a warning about the Bird Flu outbreak on Jan. 6 as the bird flu is spreading quickly throughout the world.
Due to the outbreak of the bird flu, there has been around a 20% increase in egg prices. Bird Flu normally isn’t harmful as there has only been one case where someone passed away from it, and only two people who’ve been recently hospitalized.
Although the spread is a low health risk the CDC is looking closely at people who somehow got the Bird Flu. So far there has been no spread from person to person.
With the cost of eggs being so high, social science teacher at MCHS, Jonathan Niemic tries to support local farms during this hard time.
“To be honest with you, I’ve been trying to buy local eggs,” says Niemic. “My theory is if I’m gonna pay a little bit more money for eggs, I would rather have support for a local farmer or support a local business.”
Transition: Some people fear that they might get the Bird Flu because of the few cases that have been currently going on.
“People who work closely with wild and domesticated animals should take precautions,” Betsy Reed the Editor for The Guardian News wrote. “Such as washing their hands, wearing a face mask while handling sick or dead poultry and cleaning their litter, and monitoring symptoms after contact with animals.”
The Bird Flu is an influenza, normally seen in birds, hence the name Bird Flu. But it could also be transferred through other animals and also people if not taking the right precautions. There are currently many different types of Bird Flu, the one that is currently spreading is called H5N1.
Although many people fear that not only will egg prices continue rising but that the bird flu will become the new epidemic.
“Probably about 70 people in California have been diagnosed with the virus,” said Maurice Pitesky, an Associate Professor at UC Davis, school of Veterinary Medicine, “who are mainly dairy and poultry workers. Departments of public health around the country are providing personal protective equipment to hopefully reduce the risk.”
“The worry is that eventually the virus will continue to mutate and become even more infectious, more virulent,” continued Pitesky, “and we’ll be dealing with something even more complicated.”
The main thing that the CDC and other health corporations are worried about is if the Bird Flu will continue mutating and spreading to the point where it can have a severe impact on humans.
“That’s the worry. Once a virus becomes infectious between humans,” Pitesky said, “especially if it’s a respiratory virus, that’s when we start worrying about the potential of a widespread virus, but we haven’t seen that yet.