Guest Post by John-Michael Dumais
As bird flu outbreaks spread among birds and mammals, the U.S. government says it has three FDA-approved H5N1 vaccines in its stockpile. However, experts questioned the effectiveness against current strains and raised concerns about potential side effects.
With the recent spread of H5N1 bird flu to dairy cows in eight states — and the infection of a Texas dairy worker marking the second known human case in the country — public health officials are raising concerns over the adequacy and safety of stockpiled vaccines meant to protect against a potential pandemic, according to Barron’s.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains bird flu is a low risk to humans — the infected dairy worker only contracted a case of conjunctivitis (pink eye) — and that there is currently no known mechanism for human-to-human transmission.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), avian flu is responsible for 463 deaths worldwide over the past 20 years. The CDC reports only two U.S. cases of bird flu, and both were mild. No Americans have died from the virus.
Still, government agencies and Big Pharma manufacturers are building their capacity for bird flu vaccine production.
Continue reading “‘A Dangerous Vaccine for a Nothing Disease’: U.S. Stockpiling Bird Flu Vaccines”