What Happened Today: February 23, 2023 – by Clayton Fox

Normally, the virus stays between birds, and while it has occasionally spilled over into humans, with a 30% mortality rate, there has never been documented human to human transmission. But over the past year, scientists have observed a large number of transmissions in other mammals, including minks, seals, foxes, and even grizzly bears. While the CDC and the World Health Organization both have said current evidence suggests there is no threat to humans, others disagree. The current pandemic of avian H5N1 is a really concerning issue, said British research behemoth Wellcome Trust s Jeremy Farrar in a Guardian interview on Monday. Farrar has also said that governments should begin testing new vaccines for the bird flu. 

On Feb. 27, the WHO will begin hosting negotiations for a new international pandemic treaty that some Republican lawmakers say could impinge on the national sovereignty for participating nations in the event of a new pandemic. The proposed treaty includes the concept that international property should be waived in a pandemic and 20% of all tests, vaccines, and treatments should be saved for the WHO to distribute to poorer countries. Sen. Ron Johnson and a group of 16 other Senate Republicans have proposed legislation that would require any such treaty to be ratified by a supermajority of the Senate.

via thedailyscroll.substack.com

One has to balance paranoia about a new bird flu against the WHO’s obvious lust for power.