Eric Feigl-Ding Profile picture
Apr 1, 2024 17 tweets 8 min read Read on X
Getting worried—Dairy cow avian flu has now infected a man in Texas—first H5N1 avian flu likely transmitted via dairy cows (second U.S. H5N1). Several states have recently reported detecting H5N1 in cattle, which only recently started carrying avian flu.🤔
statnews.com/2024/04/01/bir…
2) This is not April Fool’s—official statement:

“The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is reporting the first human case of novel avian influenza A(H5N1) in Texas. The patient became ill following contact with dairy cows presumed to be infected with avian influenza. The patient’s primary symptom was conjunctivitis. This is the second case of avian influenza A(H5N1) identified in a person in the United States and is believed to be associated with the recent detections of avian influenza A(H5N1) in dairy cows announced by the Texas Animal Health Commission.”

dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/he…Image
3) “DSHS is issuing this health alert to provide awareness to healthcare providers and ask them to be vigilant for people with signs and symptoms of avian influenza A(H5N1). Suspicion for avian influenza A(H5N1) should be heightened for people who have had contact with animals suspected of having avian influenza A(H5N1).”

dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/he…
4) Signs and symptoms of avian influenza A(H5N1) infection may include:
•Fever (temperature of 100°F [37.8°C] or greater) or feeling feverish or chills
•Cough
•Sore throat
•Runny or stuffy nose
•Headaches
•Fatigue
•Eye redness (conjunctivitis)
•Difficulty breathing/shortness of breath
•Diarrhea
•Nausea
•Vomiting
•SeizuresImage
5) RESPIRATORY— this is also a respiratory infection folks… which means you know what… possibly #airborne.

“Illness in humans with avian influenza A(H5N1) virus have ranged from mild to severe. Reports of severe avian influenza A(H5N1) illness in humans have included fulminant pneumonia leading to respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, and death.”Image
6) I see they are still invoking the “6 feet rule” & “secretions” for defining close contacts of a respiratory virus— do we never learn? Can we maybe warn people about even the possibility that it’s airborne?? C’mon. Image
7) “AIRBORNE PRECAUTIONS”—thankfully they acknowledge later the need for airborne precautions against H5N1, which is very prudent given its respiratory disease and influenza previously has shown airborne transmission too. Many cattle feeding areas have poor ventilation too. Image
8) Okay folks— I should explain why I’m worried suddenly—H5N1 has been circulating in birds worldwide for a while now, and many mammals too. But all that spread took a while in the backdrop of the last 2 years. But the dairy cow thing is VERY NEW— only last week—but suddenly in MULTIPLE DISTANT STATES — cows don’t usually fly from Michigan to Texas to Idaho and NM”” ➡️and now suddenly in human case within a week. That’s quite a sudden timeline. 💡this is why I’m suddenly worried.Image
9) I hope the @CDCgov will really step up on H5N1 and trace all the cases—there will be inevitably be more human avian flu cases. This will be just the tip of the iceberg. I hope @CDCDirector will put PREVENTION and CONTROL first above corporate interests.
@CDCgov @CDCDirector 10) there is extensive cow to cow transmission for this epidemic among dairy cows to be happening on such a large scale. Which means the virus is adapting toward mammal to mammal transmission, than just incidental bird to mammal before.
11) Apparently I just learned from conspiracy circles that I have now been “activated”. Lol.

Debunk— no I have not, nor have I ever shilled for anyone. Anyone who knows me I just worry for public health & for the world.

➡️E.g. Last time 4 years ago…
nymag.com/intelligencer/…
Image
12) if you want to understand me… just read this old piece from ~13 years ago…

archive.nytimes.com/well.blogs.nyt…
13) Some folks have asked—what signals am I looking for next? (If gets worse):

📌Community transmission with no farm contact

📌mutations that allows faster binding to human receptors

📌outbreaks of community transmission in multiple regions

📌denialism of above, despite data
14) let’s pray we don’t repeat the same mistakes as during early COVID… for example these mistakes that Fauci now admits (but which he and others at WHO/CDC had dismissed early on)… the precautionary principle saves lives.
15) The numbers— so far, 7 herds of dairy cows have tested positive in Texas for the new Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, bringing total now to 11 confirmed dairy herds in 5 states (more pending). The NVSL has also confirmed that the strain of the virus found in subsequent states is very similar to the strain originally confirmed in cattle in Texas and Kansas that appears to have been introduced by wild birds (H5N1, Eurasian lineage goose/Guangdong clade 2.3.4.4b). 

aphis.usda.gov/news/agency-an…Image
16) Cats have also tested positive in the dairy cow H5N1 avian flu probe, already previously found. ➡️But cow cases are more unusual, because **no influenza A had ever been reported in ruminants** (cattle/bison species) before. Hence cow infections unusual
cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenz…
17) excellent thread from a scientist who had studied and followed avian flu for many years. There is a real risk of virus recombination between H5N1 and a human flu strain that will merge to make a “worst of both worlds” human-avian flu strain. 👇

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More from @DrEricDing

Feb 26
BREAKING—FDA suddenly cancels meeting to update next season’s flu vaccines, with zero explanations. Any delays will jeopardize next year’s vaccine supply chain. Image
2) Folks who follow me know that I’m no bullshitter. I criticized past pandemic response right and left, and have called balls and strikes without bias. And I often say things that doctors & epidemiologists are whispering among themselves but don’t say publicly. (Cough cough) ⬇️
3) While I don’t recommend hoarding… I think stocking up on flu antivirals, which you can obtain prophylactically (preventively) from doctors if you ask nicely why you’re high risk, can be a good idea. I know many doctors, epidemiologists and virologists who do for their family.
Read 6 tweets
Feb 26
Doctors are debunking RFK Jr’s claim that 20 hospitalized measles cases in Texas are there for mainly quarantine. Doctors on the ground say the 20 kids hospitalized are having trouble breathing. Oh and they are all unvaccinated against measles, which RFK Jr neglects to mention. Image
2) RFK Jr told Trump today there’s now 2 measles deaths.
3) RFK Jr is a tear with his FDA today. A dark Darwinian future lies ahead for America.
Read 4 tweets
Feb 26
BREAKING—Reports coming in about potentially *2 measles deaths* in Texas, not just one, according to an HHS briefing to the White House today.
2) Earlier today, one measles death in an unvaccinated child was reported in Texas. Image
3) It seems to be RFK Jr who said it in an official Trump WH cabinet meeting today. Not saying he doesn’t lie, but he is now HHS Secretary
Read 6 tweets
Feb 21
Woke or biology? There are actually more than the basic “male” XY & “female” XX sexes. Why? Because biology also creates people with single X chromosomes, or extra chromosomes like XXX, XXY, XYY, or XXX+, plus many 🧬genes. 👉All I’m asking is— please be kind to others. Thanks🙏 Image
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2) “The most frequent SCAs include Turner syndrome (45,X), Klinefelter syndrome (47,XXY), Trisomy X syndrome (47,XXX), and Double Y syndrome (47,XYY).”

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10…
3) “The phenotype seen in SCAs is highly variable and may not merely be due to the direct genomic imbalance from altered sex chromosome gene dosage but also due to additive alterations in gene networks and regulatory pathways across the genome as well as individual genetic modifiers.”
Read 5 tweets
Feb 16
I'm shocked a lot of doctors don't know about this newer flu antiviral drug called Baloxavir (XOFLUZA)... that shortens your flu illness by 33%, and reduces your viral load by day 2, versus what a placebo takes 5-6 days to achieve. Baloxavir also seems superior to TAMIFLU (oseltamivir) for smashing your viral load on 2 day, achieving what takes Tamiflu 3-4 days. CDC even lists Baloxavir on their website as one of the top 4 drugs that it tracks whether it works against new flu strains (it works)Image
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2) "Baloxavir was associated with significantly more rapid declines in infectious viral load than placebo or oseltamivir (Figure 3A and 3B)."
nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
3) Adverse events for baloxavir were no different than placebo. in fact theres even hints that it could be lower than Tamiflu.

"Adverse events that were considered to be related to the trial regimen were more common in oseltamivir recipients (8.4%) than in baloxavir recipients (4.4%, P=0.009)"Image
Read 13 tweets
Feb 14
⚠️WORST FLU SEASON ever since 2002-2003 when we began to track flu (red, first graph). Worst hit this year are children ages 0-4 and 5-17. ▶️We also have significantly LOWER flu vaccine uptake this year, one of the lowest flu vaccine coverages (red 3rd graph). Indisputable facts. Image
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2) I don't need to tell you that certain US states have vastly lower vaccination rates than others. See map (lighter green, less flu vaccination coverage), and which have higher (darker green)...

If you want to see details and demographics on which state has the LOWEST flu vaccine coverage rates... the data is here.
cdc.gov/fluvaxview/das…Image
3) It’s not just the flu that is going around… Gaines County, TX, where the epicenter of the measles outbreak is, has one of the lowest measles vaccination rates too.
Read 7 tweets

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