Bird Flu Is Raging on a Mink Farm. It Could Spark a Human Pandemic, Experts Say, but Officials Won’t Act.
www.propublica.org
Federal officials brushed off the issue as Utah prioritized the fur industry’s interests. Little has been done to stop the spread of the virus and ensure it can’t spread to humans, a failure that experts called “irresponsible” and “astounding.”

Reporting Highlights

  • Deadly Outbreak: A bird flu outbreak has been raging uncontrolled on a Utah mink farm for two months. Flu experts fear it could spark a devastating human pandemic.
  • Government Failures: State officials didn’t order the mink to be killed, which other countries with outbreaks have done. They are prioritizing the financial interests of the fur trade.
  • Silent Risks: Despite CDC guidance urging officials to monitor workers, they actively chose not to and declined to test workers — including one with a symptom experts said would warrant testing.
  • Manjushri@piefed.socialEnglish
    13·
    17 days ago

    Price said the state’s policy not to monitor workers is meant to allow farmers to decide whether to contact the health department, rather than “forcing it on them.” “If we started seeing people actively dying from this, obviously that would change how we respond to this,” she said.

    We feel that the most reasonable course of action is to wait for the horse to escape before we have a fact finding meeting, probably followed by a public comment period, before we decide whether or not to close the barn door. After all, we don’t want to annoy the farmers.

    We are so fucked.