Not Strictly For the Birds

“The Texas patient reported only one mild symptom — namely, pink eye — and is recovering, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet the news is the latest in a long string of recent headlines that raise concerns about the risk that bird flu poses to public health. Avian influenza has ravaged domestic flocks, causing farmers to cull chickens by the millions. It’s also decimated wild birds and many marine mammals including seals and sea lions. And the virus is spreading, reaching penguins in Antarctica and at least one polar bear in the Arctic. These developments are concerning. But how worried should we be?” Bird flu jumped to cows, then to a human. Should we be worried? (Worried about a deadly disease jumping from animals to humans and then spreading wildly? Why would we be worried about something like that?)