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Wednesday, May 1, 2024
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Opinion Today: The population most vulnerable to bird flu
The potential of a bird flu outbreak in humans seems greater than it has in years. The H5N1 virus has now spread to several dozen dairy cow herds across the United States, fragments of the virus have been found in the commercial milk supply chain, and there has been at least one confirmed case of human infection. And as Zeynep Tufekci, an Opinion columnist, pointed out last week, public health authorities so far have, at best, a shaky grasp of how this happened and where things are headed. What is clear, however, is that if the virus jumps to humans, not everyone will share the same immediate risk of infection. As it turns out, one population is more vulnerable than any other in the country. In a Times Opinion guest essay today, Erin M. Sorrell, Monica Schoch-Spana and Meghan F. Davis of Johns Hopkins University argue that dairy farm workers are particularly in danger, because of the nature of their work and the socio-economic conditions they live under. A majority of these workers, who come from Mexico and Central America, are undocumented and speak little English. Many lack protective gear that would keep them safe from airborne pathogens. And given their low wages and lack of job security, they are likely to forgo seeking safer work conditions or treatment for any illnesses out of fear of losing money or employment outright. Tufekci argued last week that the window for the United States to stop a potential bird flu outbreak in humans is closing. The Johns Hopkins researchers take this a step further. They present the case for why we need to start aggressively testing dairy farm workers right now — not just to protect their health but also to prevent risking further spread. "Any serious surveillance efforts of H5N1 demand that the country do better to ensure proper testing and health care is provided to these workers now," they write, "lest we risk being caught flat-footed by a new pandemic so soon after Covid." It's those last few words that sit heavily on my mind. The world shut itself down in an effort to stop the spread of Covid, and in the years that followed, scientists and public health experts deliberated endlessly over how to prevent a future pandemic. In the case of bird flu, there seem to be a few very obvious, very feasible measures we can take to safeguard ourselves. It would be absurd to leave things to chance. Here's what we're focusing on today:
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