Just as a quick update, Covid numbers continue to slowly go down. They are not as low as they were in the summer of 2023, but they are getting there. Still, over 1000 Americans a week succumb to complications from Covid 19 infection. That’s 52,000 deaths a year. It is still in the top 10 causes of death and most of those are in people over 65 years of age or who are immunocompromised.
We are getting more information about long Covid complications which impact 8% of those infected. It is hard to get a good handle on the absolute numbers since reporting is non-existent but if you assume a 2% death rate from Covid, and 52,000 a year dying from it, that means that at least 200,000 people a year are getting long-Covid in the US alone. That is a lot of suffering.
But we have apparently moved on from Covid. We’ve accepted it as a part of our daily lives.
AVIAN FLU – H1N1
What has appeared on the infectious disease landscape is H1N1 flu appearing in cows in the US.
All flu viruses start in birds, mutate and eventually infect humans. The Spanish flu and todays yearly flu started in Ducks and other waterfowl. The Avian flu, H1N1 is no exception.
It first appeared in 1996 in bird farms in Asia and within a year, mutated and infected at least 20 humans in a Hong Kong wet market. Numbers of human cases fluctuated over the years, reaching a high of 145 in 2015 but with a 60% death rate, it is certainly a virus of concern.
These flu viruses bind to a receptor (alpha 2,3 sialic acid) on animal cells. This receptor also exists in the human eye but not on other human cells. Humans have a more widespread receptor alpha 2, 6 on their cells, particularly in the lungs, and once the virus mutates enough, it can infect humans more easily. Interestingly pigs have both receptors which is why pig populations are particularly vulnerable to H1N1, hence the name “swine flu”. Because of their massive and cramped populations, pig farms are breeding grounds for viral mutations.
Between 2017 and 2022, H1N1 seemed to spontaneously recede with only 22 cases being identified worldwide that entire time.
But now, it has resurfaced as a new variant, H1N1 2.3.4b. The variety of animals now being affected by this virus has expanded significantly but as yet, there have only been a few human cases. For the first time, cows have become infected. Particularly, dairy cows. At least 12 dairy farms in 5 states have had cases and the virus infects the milk at very high levels. Although pasteurization helps, it does not eliminate the virus. Their milk production is severely affected and the milk changes color.
At least one dairy worker has come down with an H1N1 infection in his eyes (remember that we do have receptors in our eyes for this virus) but no respiratory infections have yet been identified.
It is early in this outbreak so we will see what happens over the next few weeks and months. Hopefully things settle down. No one is recommending avoiding dairy at this stage, other than maybe unpasteurized raw milk, but I recommend avoiding dairy anyway since it is completely unnatural to consume dairy in the first place.
Dairy consumption has been linked to all kinds of diseases including hormonal cancers like breast and prostate, allergies and acne (also from the hormones) and the saturated fat from dairy causes atherosclerosis leading to heart disease and dementia. Cheese provides the largest amount of saturated fat in the American diet. It also is the highest source of salt. The average American consumes 70,000 calories worth of cheese annually. That is 34 days of the recommended daily RDA of calories!
We are not baby cows people! We do not need cow’s breast milk in our diet. Cows make breast milk to grow a 65 lb baby calf into a 1000 lb cow in a year. What do you think all those growth hormones are doing in adults! Causing and stimulating cancer cell growth! Dairy proteins are pro-inflammatory.
In addition, cows are subjected to horrible abuses their whole lives. They endure such things as forced pregnancy (dairy farmers actually call the device used to restrain cows when they are artificially impregnated a “rape rack”), forced lactation, having their babies ripped away at birth as well as horrible living conditions.
Lastly, the cattle population is an environmental disaster. All the cows generate tremendous amounts of methane, 75x more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2 is. The nitrous oxide from the fertilizer used to grow the feed for these animals is over 300x more potent than CO2. There are over 1 billion cattle worldwide. It Is estimated that if they were eliminated, that would clear up 50% of the greenhouse gasses we generate. Eliminating the 270 million dairy cows would eliminate another 25%. That’s 75% of all the global warming gasses we produce.
Food for thought.
Have a great weekend.
Stay safe and be well.
AC