[Epidemiologic and medical issues haven't been discussed here at Lux Umbra Dei until recently. This post supplements a similar one done on fungal infections and one done on geographic pathogen corridors. I hope to assemble future ones sharing a common theme: the enormous perturbation of warming and the consequent transformation of the ecosphere]
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It is a historical curiosity how two great Panzootics* arose almost simultaneously, but because one virus and Its compassionate variants was primarily attacking humans, the other which attacked primarily bird and wild animal populations drew less attention.
Now, roughly five years down the road, the human/animal panzootic seems to be weakening while the animal one seems to be gaining strength. Ominously some cases of spillover to humans have been reported. So far there is no verified instances of human to human transmission.
Here is a selection of articles drawn primarily from CDC EID sources but also from the USDA and PubMed.
Nov 21 2021 Wild Red Foxes in the Netherlands https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/27/11/21-1281_article
September 2022 Ferrets in North America https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/28/9/22-0879_article
April 2023 Seals in New England, United States. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/4/22-1538_article
April 2023 Harbor Porpoise, Sweden https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/4/22-1426_article
March 2023 Royal and Cabot's Terns, Brazil https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/3/23-1157_article
April 2022 Domestic Ducks, Indonesia https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/3/23-0973_article
February 2023-on, Multispecies Outbreak, Argentina https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/4/23-1725_article
April 2021 Wild Birds, China https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/4/23-1725_article
May 2022 Mass Die off Wild Birds, Caspian Sea Russia https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/12/23-0330_article
November 2022 Wild Birds, South Korea https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/7/22-1893_article
April - July 2022 Multiple Species Wild Terrestrial Mammals, United States https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/7/22-1893_article
2022 - 2023 Mass Mortality Sea Lions and Sea Birds, Peru https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/7/22-1893_article
2022 -2023 SeaBird, Pelicans and Zoo lion deaths, Peru https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/12/23-0505_article
2020 - 2023 Wild Birds and Poultry in the U.S. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/spotlights/2021-2022/updated-bird-flu-poses-low-risk.htm
2020 - 2023 Patterns of Mammal A(H5N1) Infection, Global https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/3/23-1098_article
2022 - 2024 Mammalian infections in the U.S. by state, county and incident https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-mammals
2024 Human Infections and Death, Cambodia https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/spotlights/2023-2024/cambodia-human-reported-2024.htm
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There are many more, but this is a good sampling. No one should expect a repeat of the societal disruption and human costs of Covid. But the wildlife biology community should be on the alert and the animal husbandry community should entertain the remote possibility of herd involvement.
Prospect: Avian flu waves generally originating from reservoirs in East Asia are recurrent. This is only the most recent and the most widespread-taking in the most collateral species. The current A(H5N1) version will probably follow the course of previous outbreaks and eventually subside but not after causing worldwide havoc in bird populations even as far south as Antarctica.
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*It is not too controversial to refer to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as a Zoonotic. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10728779/
I sometimes wonder how readers square the circle of their scientific and poetic/spiritual sides. A perhaps uneasy co-habitation? Using my favorite language, let me propose, "Mens sana in spiritus sanctus" or something akin...
The body will take care of itself thereby.
I "liked" this piece but I don't really like it. I don't like these dangers to wildlife. The bird populations seem to be threatened in so many ways now and that is frightening. Although I haven't gone to any of your attached links, I do appreciate the references. It's all scary.
And, just for fun, I am one of those people who was gifted with four years of high school Latin. I had a rigorous instructor for all four years and still find myself using that language to decipher vocabulary. I went on to study Spanish later and , obviously, found Latin to be very useful there too.
Thanks for your post.