Speakers: Dr. Ryan Cole, Dr. George Fareed, Dr. Brian Tyson
Is it Bird Flu? Ask the Doctors
What’s the truth about bird flu? If you look into the search trends, interest has shot up recently:
No doubt we are seeing reports in the news, but is it really as dangerous as they say?
To get answers, we’re calling on three FLCCC senior fellows: frequent host Dr. Ryan Cole, along with Dr. Brian Tyson and Dr. George Fareed, both experts in family medicine and authors of a book on their incredible track record of success treating COVID patients.
In this one-hour webinar, they’ll provide a history lesson on avian flu, discuss the pathology of H5N1, and explain whether we should worry about an outbreak at all. If you haven’t got time for the full breakdown, you can watch this quick bird flu overview by Dr. Kat Lindley below:
Understanding Bird Flu: Insights from Dr. Ryan Cole
In our webinar, Dr. Cole delivered an incredible bird flu breakdown centered on pathology, history, and the current situation. “The H5N1 strain was identified in China and wild waterfowl back in 1996, but it’s probably been with us for aeons. It’s endemic within migratory waterfowl,” he explains.
Bird flu can be deadly to poultry, but Dr. Cole critiques the mass culling approach. In one experiment, “only about 25% of the poultry did [pass away] and 75% survived,” suggesting that herd immunity could be a better option.
He also touches on gain-of-function research, noting that the gain-of-function ban was instituted in 2014 due to, you guessed it, the H5N1 virus. Despite the ban being lifted, he reassures that “since 2007, there hasn’t been a human-to-human transmission of H5N1.” Dr. Cole acknowledges isolated cases of H5N1 in cattle and poultry workers but emphasizes that these haven’t led to widespread human infections.
So, Are Doctors Seeing Avian Influenza?
Former White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birks is currently making the rounds, saying we need to test more cows and humans for the bird flu virus as a matter of public health.
It’s time we checked in with our doctors. Dr. Tyson is actually in a farm-heavy region, so you’d expect at least some contact with infected human cases? Not so.
“You know, we’re high Ag industry. So we have cow farms and cattle farms all over the place out here, we’ve got some bird farms as well. And we’re not seeing anything out of the ordinary.”
Dr. Fareed ads that if they were indeed seeing bird flu, “we would have a treatment for it and we treat early just like we did with COVID-19.”
Though Cases of Bird Flu in Humans are Rare, Treatment Exists
As Dr. Cole points out, there have only been around 900 human cases worldwide since 1997. And he has more reassuring words to share: “With any illness, what’s the key? Early treatment.”
Dr. Tyson reminds us that when it comes to viruses, there’s a lot that an MD can do to improve patient outcomes:
“You can still limit spread, you can limit the viral replication, you can limit the inflammatory response, you can use supportive measures with fluid hydration and oxygen if needed. You can prevent blood clots with thrombolytics and prevent a lot of the end stage diseases that were happening in all of these viral illnesses from past to present.”
What Are The Symptoms of Bird Flu?
- Fever (typically high with flu)
- Fatigue
- Upper respiratory symptoms (general)
- Conjunctivitis (eye inflammation)
- Severe headache
- Severe pneumonia (in historically severe cases)
How to Stay Healthy
There’s no doubt that, no matter what viruses are circulating, we all can do a lot to strengthen our immune systems. It’s not just a cheesy expression, prevention really is the best medicine. To that end, we’ve got a few prevention-centric pieces to share with you:
