Josh Marshall makes a really good point about the recent avian flu epidemic that is causing the price of eggs to soar. Avian flu very rarely jumps species into humans or other mammals, but when it does, it's incredibly lethal. As in - if you get it, there's a 50% chance you will die.
In America - and several other places - pandemic response has moved from a public health concern to a partisan culture war issue. Now, wearing a mask or even getting a vaccine is increasingly a political act. I don't wear a mask, because I'm vaccinated out the ass, I've had a bad case and a mild case. I feel pretty good that Covid - for me - will be a cold, like most coronaviruses.
Avian flu is a different beast. And because we have politicized public health on the altar of stupidity and tribal politics, if it does jump to humans, the impact could be catastrophic. As in tens of millions of dead, in America alone.
When Covid first broke out, the Right - including Trump - said it was "just the flu" which tells you all you need to know about how they will respond to an avian flu outbreak.
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