Everything You Need to Know About H5N1 Bird Flu

If you were wondering how the new administration would outfail the previous one on pandemic preparation and response, this week we got our answer. As bird flu mutates faster than expected, the Trump administration has decided to “pause” all external communications for health agencies. The decision includes press releases, health advisories, weekly scientific reports, and updates to websites—as well as social media posts. We’ll get zero warning this time.

So far, there have been 67 human cases of bird flu in the U.S., most of them considered “mild,” although that could change at any point.

It’s worth remembering the 1918 flu appeared mild at first, so mild that doctors around the world dismissed it as harmless. Then it mutated into something highly contagious and deadly. The Woodrow Wilson administration devoted their energy to censoring information and manipulating public sentiment instead of preparing. As historian Guy Beiner notes in Pandemic Re-Awakenings, the 1918 flu caused more devastation than previously understood, with higher mortality and disability tolls than reported, and it likely altered the course of human history, beginning with the rise of fascism. It might be about to happen again.

This time, bird flu could ignite a pandemic in a global population whose immune systems are already beaten down by another disease.

As this virus continues to make headlines, we’re all left wondering what’s going to happen next, when it will become airborne, whether it’s safe to consume meat or dairy products, and what we should do to prepare. Last year, I started gathering information about the virus and how to get ready.

We’re not going to get answers from our leaders.

So, here they are: