"On March 16, cows on a Texas dairy farm began showing symptoms of a mysterious illness now known to be H5N1 bird flu. Their symptoms were nondescript, but their milk production dramatically dropped and turned thick and creamy yellow. The next day, cats on the farm that had consumed some of the raw milk from the sick cows also became ill. While the cows would go on to largely recover, the cats weren't so lucky. They developed depressed mental states, stiff body movements, loss of coordination, circling, copious discharge from their eyes and noses, and blindness. By March 20, over half of the farm's 24 or so cats died from the flu."
@mjausson@Jennifer@ai6yr I read (elsewhere here) that there's apparently a surprising amount of virus in milk, and a human drinking raw milk is perhaps risking a lethal dose. So it may not be this deadly if transmitted cat-to-cat, but if they swallow a high dose in milk, it's deadly. (So drinking raw milk was already a risky venture, but with the risk of ingesting bird flu, just please don't, it could be deadly).
@dr2chase@mjausson@ai6yr I'm not freaking out because of the cats, but because it was so lethal to them. If it jumps to humans with this lethality what will happen. I'm not mentally prepared for another pandemic 😱
Back during covid on the dead bird site, I posted that it was Mother Nature's warning shot across the bow, and that if we didn't learn to follow protocols, to stop factory farming, and to stop encroaching on wildlands, etc etc, that instead of a virus with a 2 or 3% general death rate we'd end up with one that has a 20 or 30% death rate.
Of course republicans gutted the protocols and Wall Street is plowing full speed ahead with unsafe and unsustainable farming. They're plowing full speed ahead with farm induced antibiotic resistance - and making healthcare unaffordable and in some small towns and rural counties unobtainable at any price in a reasonable amount of time. The lessons were not learned.
This might not be be "that" virus or "that" bacteria, but we're on the path to some mutation of some bug somewhere that will have a 50% or better death rate.
And they're fine with that, is the only conclusion you can draw.
@bibliofishy Virus fragments, but no virus (yet). Although, really hit the last line of defense (pasteurization) instead of "not having sick cows" where it's supposed to stop.
@ai6yr@stevewfolds Even if this doesn't jump to humans it's looking apocalyptic, especially for the likelihood of inducing food shortages/famine (especially in areas already in danger like Gaza)
That rate of death in felines is terrifying (not just domesticated cats, although in urban areas a decimation of cats like that could lead to pest vermin issues and possibly even a return of plague if rat populations explode) but for wild felid species extinction
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