Blythe Terrell

Let's see, where's Dr. Richard Webby's worry meter?

Is that like buying a few extra masks? Is that toilet paper?

Is that like buying a few extra masks? Is that toilet paper?

Would that help? Yeah. For humans, generally tends to be a respiratory virus. Like, that's what we see. So I do think masks would help. Right. And this is still a flu. It's still a flu. That's right. It's still a flu. I mean, Wendy, I did buy masks last week. Oh, okay.

Would that help? Yeah. For humans, generally tends to be a respiratory virus. Like, that's what we see. So I do think masks would help. Right. And this is still a flu. It's still a flu. That's right. It's still a flu. I mean, Wendy, I did buy masks last week. Oh, okay.

Yeah, there are vaccines. You can't just go get one at the pharmacy. They're not like available, but they do exist. Right. But as far as how they would do if bird flu really took off?

Yeah, there are vaccines. You can't just go get one at the pharmacy. They're not like available, but they do exist. Right. But as far as how they would do if bird flu really took off?

And we have stuff like antivirals that can help too.

And we have stuff like antivirals that can help too.

Yeah. I mean, look, it's not going to do anything specifically for bird flu. They're just different enough. But you should do it. You should do it. I mean, a lot of scientists reminded me that the regular flu, Wendy, I mean, it kills thousands of people every year. Like that's still going on. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, look, it's not going to do anything specifically for bird flu. They're just different enough. But you should do it. You should do it. I mean, a lot of scientists reminded me that the regular flu, Wendy, I mean, it kills thousands of people every year. Like that's still going on. Yeah.

And getting the flu vaccine does reduce the chance that, I mean, if you happen to be very unlucky, right, and also get bird flu, get that reassortment thing that we talked about, that you, Wendy, you know, will be patient zero of the bird flu pandemic. And actually, one of the things that Health and Human Services Department here in the U.S.

And getting the flu vaccine does reduce the chance that, I mean, if you happen to be very unlucky, right, and also get bird flu, get that reassortment thing that we talked about, that you, Wendy, you know, will be patient zero of the bird flu pandemic. And actually, one of the things that Health and Human Services Department here in the U.S.

told me is that they are actually giving agricultural workers access to the seasonal flu vaccine as kind of part of their strategy here.

told me is that they are actually giving agricultural workers access to the seasonal flu vaccine as kind of part of their strategy here.

So, I mean, yeah, overall, like, bird flu does not really seem to be a big focus right now. You know, at the USDA, they are looking at ways to stop it in chickens. But like I mentioned at the start of the show, you know, the Trump administration is also like firing tons of people, including people whose job it was to work on diseases like this.

So, I mean, yeah, overall, like, bird flu does not really seem to be a big focus right now. You know, at the USDA, they are looking at ways to stop it in chickens. But like I mentioned at the start of the show, you know, the Trump administration is also like firing tons of people, including people whose job it was to work on diseases like this.

Yeah. And I mean, you know, the thing I'm actually kind of freaked out about here, Wendy, is like whether we're really going to be able to track this thing properly, you know, given everything that's going on, like how soon would we would we really know if it's starting to gain steam and spread in people? Yeah.

Yeah. And I mean, you know, the thing I'm actually kind of freaked out about here, Wendy, is like whether we're really going to be able to track this thing properly, you know, given everything that's going on, like how soon would we would we really know if it's starting to gain steam and spread in people? Yeah.

And one reason this has been on my mind so much is, so when I first started working on this episode, you know, watching all this last year into this year, human cases were kind of ticking up kind of a few at a time here and there. There's reports, there's news reports, data's coming in. And it was early this year, like around February, when we hit that 70 cases or so that I mentioned, right?