🧬MUTATION IN AVIAN FLU GENOME—CDC’s avian flu found in Texas man shows one unique mutation “associated with viral adaptation to mammalian hosts”—which helps the virus 📌“improve RNA polymerase activity and [virus] replication efficiency in mammalian cells”, says the report. but CDC also states “no evidence of onward spread among people”. @CDCgov claims “overall risk remains low”.
➡️I worry that @CDCFlu’s “no evidence of onward spread among people” (April 2024) could become the new “no evidence of human to human transmission” (WHO Jan 2020). Need to be watchful. 🧵 cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/s…
2) Also buried in the CDC report is a worrisome line that—“It is important to note that this substitution (mutation) has not been seen in available PB2 genes from viruses circulating in wild birds and poultry or in the recently described cattle viruses detected in Texas, 📌suggesting the mutation may have been acquired in the patient”. ➡️Thus, this was a novel mutation in which the avian flu virus has **newly adapted inside the host of the Texas man**. 😳
3) This is why I was worried about the sudden emergence timeline of the Texas case. Usually onwards spread across species is not this fast.
5) How did the avian flu acquire the new aforementioned mutation? It can either be genetic drift or a genetic shift—which can occur when a mammal (eg human) is simultaneously infected by two flu strains that then mix their genes to create a “worst of both worlds” mutated virus.
6) Folks— to clear up the confusion what the CDC meant here— “the mutation may have been acquired in the patient” means that the new avian flu genetic mutation ==> directly EMERGED IN THE HUMAN PATIENT (the Texas man)—and not from a bird🦆 or a cow🐄. This is why it’s a big deal.
7) We have checked off one of the 4 items on the warning list… watching for the other signals.
8) Milk transmission possible in theory - but milk is safe to drink - as long as it’s properly pasteurized. Don’t do the alternative raw milk thing folks!
9) Another new dairy herd in Ohio also now positive for avian flu. We are now up to 7 states and 12 different dairy herds. Likely several more in coming days will be positive. This has no sign of slowing. Hope people don’t drink unpasteurized milk or dairy products for a while.
10) Folks— PASTEURIZED MILK only going forward until this avian flu in dairy cow situation is resolved…. new USDA warning.
11) If you’re eating eggs 🥚 … only FULLY COOKED EGGS 🍳 only. Not even partially-cooked “runny” eggs with sunny side up. Fully cooked means a solid yolk.
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⚠️BREAKING—ICU Hospitalized human bird flu case in Canada now officially confirmed as H5N1. Worse, it is the same 2.3.4.4b virus clade (variant group) as the one found in BC🇨🇦 poultry and in Washington state🇺🇸! The hospitalized teenager (with no pre existing conditions) had no animal contact, does not live on farm, had “deterioration quite rapid” and now critical in ICU with ARDS. Canada officials says infectious period is 2 days **prior to symptoms** (ie asymptomatic transmission) and infectious up to 10 days.
2) Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg confirmed that the individual has avian influenza H5N1 canada.ca/en/public-heal…
3) details…
⚠️BAD UPDATE—BIRD FLU HOSPITALIZATION IN CANADIAN TEEN
Summary 🧵 of the live press conference with Canada’s British Columbia health officer.
📌The teen is in intensive care.
📌Condition is ARDS
📌Teen was healthy prior; no underlying conditions
My god—Google Search for “what is a tariff” sudden spikes the DAY AFTER ELECTION DAY. 🤦🏻♂️
2) many folks simply don’t understand what a tariff is — unless you explain it several times to them with analogies. Even then, it’s hard for many to grasp. Eg 👇
📍HARRIS IS STILL AHEAD IN PA—in terms of votes yet to be counted. She’s still +2 of what is needed to win PA, given the outstanding votes still remaining in PA cities, according to @CBSNews @NorahODonnell
Plastic cookware should not be used. Period. Especially BLACK PLASTIC cookware, that often mixes in toxic recycled electronic waste materials. DISPOSE OF ALL PLASTIC COOKWARE, especially if black colored plastic ones. Pass it on to your family.
2) Because optical sensors in recycling facilities can’t detect them, black-colored plastics are largely rejected from domestic-waste streams, resulting in a shortage of black base material for recycled plastic. So the demand for black plastic appears to be met “in no insignificant part” via recycled e-waste, according to Turner’s research. TV and computer casings, like the majority of the world’s plastic waste, tend to be recycled in informal waste economies with few regulations and end up remolded into consumer products, including ones, such as spatulas and slotted spoons, that come into contact with food.
3) You simply do not want flame retardants anywhere near your stir-fry. Flame retardants are typically not bound to the polymers to which they are added, making them a particular flight risk: They dislodge easily and make their way into the surrounding environment. And, indeed, another paper from 2018 found that flame retardants in black kitchen utensils readily migrate into hot cooking oil. The health concerns associated with those chemicals are well established: Some flame retardants are endocrine disruptors, which can interfere with the body’s hormonal system, and scientific literature suggests that they may be associated with a range of ailments, including thyroid disease, diabetes, and cancer. People with the highest blood levels of PBDEs, a class of flame retardants found in black plastic, had about a 300 percent increase in their risk of dying from cancer compared with people who had the lowest levels, according to a study released this year. In a separate study, published in a peer-reviewed journal this month, researchers from the advocacy group Toxic-Free Future and from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam found that, out of all of the consumer products they tested, kitchen utensils had some of the highest levels of flame retardants.
⚠️MASK MANDATE RETURNING TO ALL NIH PATIENT CLINICS—Effective November 4, 2024, masking will be required in all patient care & waiting rooms. Furthermore, testing for COVID, flu A, flu B, and RSV will be required for all inpatients & rooming-in visitors. cc.nih.gov/patient-servic…
2) This means wearing a mask will be REQUIRED in all patient care areas, including waiting rooms. ➡️This change is due to an anticipated increase in COVID-19 and other respiratory virus activity in the community. 😷
3) I think people should stock up on COVID tests again. The Cheapest COVID test on the U.S. market is now as low as $1.50 with special promo code “COV20”… expiring Jan or March 2025.