<
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/trump-bird-flu-covid-response/>
"The bird flu’s been around for generations. But this year, concerns have
spiked after it jumped to humans and other mammals, leading to at least 58
confirmed cases in the United States among mostly farmworkers.
Another, more obvious, cause for worry: The response to the prospective health
crisis will soon be under the direction of President-elect Donald Trump. The
former and future president will arrive in office next month with a track
record of downplaying the severity of Covid-19, pushing unfounded cures,
sharing conspiracy theories, and brandishing xenophobic rhetoric regarding
Covid-19. A
Lancet study found that under the Trump administration the US
could have averted about 40 percent of its Covid-19 deaths compared to other
high-income, G7 countries, and that’s partly due to the Trump administration’s
manner of handling the crisis by politicizing masks and publicly dismissing its
threat.
Additionally, Trump is angling to bring prominent vaccine deniers to oversee
agencies crucial to the nation’s bird flu response. If Trump gets his way, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be led by Tom Weldon, who has
sought to remove the agency’s ability to conduct vaccine safety research and
has spread vaccine misinformation himself. He also tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
to “go wild on health” as the director of Health and Human Services. Kennedy
was labeled one of the “Disinformation Dozen” for spreading misinformation
about the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine, and his anti-vaccine efforts
contributed to a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in American Samoa. He has also
stated “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective,” and is apparently a fan
of raw milk, which can be a conduit for spreading bird flu.
And more dangerous public health policy could be on the horizon. Project 2025
placed a target on the back of the CDC, calling it “perhaps the most
incompetent and arrogant agency in the federal government,” and proposed
cutting it in half. Eight former CDC directors, including Trump’s 2017 and 2018
appointees, opined that such a policy would “cost lives and damage the
economy.”"
Via Whuffo and Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
