H5N1 Bird Flu Isn’t a Human Pandemic—Yet
www.scientificamerican.com
Americans don’t like being told what to do, and many don’t trust government. These stubborn attitudes might turn H5N1 bird flu into a pandemic

When H5N1 avian influenza started spreading among dairy cattle across the U.S. this year, regulators warned against consuming unpasteurized milk. What happened? Raw milk sales went up.

Distributors of this unsafe-for-human-consumption product deny H5N1—which has the potential to sicken millions of people—is a danger. Dairy farmers decline to allow disease detectives onto their properties.

  • Skvlp
    3•5 months ago

    The scary thing is that that frame of mind exists elsewhere as well. But I guess it’s more of it in the US.

    • toastboy79
      3•5 months ago

      That would be some really cool data to view “how stubborn are the attitudes in different countries” and “how many personalities are stubborn in different countries”

      • Skvlp
        1•5 months ago

        I like foolhardy in this context. And a foolhardy index would be interesting.

        • toastboy79
          1•5 months ago

          true true, that’s an excellent term for it. If only we could somehow assess it with metrics and data

          • Skvlp
            1•5 months ago

            I don’t have a solution for that, unfortunately.