Should we be worried about bird flu?
Episode description
Today we’re talking about bird flu. It’s infecting flocks of chickens, causing egg prices to rise across the country, plus herds of dairy cattle and people are getting sick too. And all of this is happening amid sweeping changes at U.S. federal health agencies.
The Trump administration has ordered mass firings and limits on public communications at agencies including the Centers for Disease Control, hindering its ability to keep the public informed.
“There are a lot of emerging and ongoing infectious disease events that require a very active, highly communicative public health agency like the CDC, and we’re just not getting that,” said Jessica Malaty Rivera, an epidemiologist and science communicator.
On the show today, Malaty Rivera explains the scale of the current bird flu outbreak, how the response in the United States has been disrupted by chaos in the federal government, and why state health systems may struggle to fill the gaps after years of underfunding.
Plus, for one listener, doing something is better than nothing. And, another listener shares how they changed their mind about the value of government work.
Here’s everything we talked about today:
“Urgent CDC Data and Analyses on Influenza and Bird Flu Go Missing as Outbreaks Escalate” from KFF Health News
“Mass firings at HHS: Thousands impacted across federal health agencies including CMS, FDA” from Fierce Healthcare
“RFK Jr. confirmed, elevating anti-vaccine activist to nation’s top health post” from The Washington Post
“How Trump’s Medical Research Cuts Would Hit Colleges and Hospitals in Every State” from The New York Times
“The U.S. and the WHO: An Imperfect but Essential Relationship” from Johns Hopkins
What’s something you thought you knew but later found out you were wrong about? Email [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.