Stopgap measures against H5N1 bird flu can only go so far The real problem is not the virus — it’s our systems

https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/11/h5n1-avian-bird-flu-nipah-virus-prevention-containment/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_7Hr1vxeKMeompFIW8cJx-Hn3nkRpA5bL_gGPU-rgOe0Yq3bPpPg9zeWoWSAXLajODjueSEuhBOt449nLNNEZPp4txkA&_hsmi=346693483&utm_content=346693483&utm_source=hs_email Physician Arjun Sharma likens our problem with some infectious diseases to that of Sisyphus. Like the Greek hero stuck pushing a rock uphill for eternity, we often can detect viral outbreaks and contain them, but we don’t have the means to prevent them. That doesn’t need to be the case with bird flu, he writes in a new First Opinion essay. Viral infections of avian origin have plagued humanity for almost 150 years — they’re neither novel nor understudied. We know how the virus acts, the question is how do we act? And how might that put us in harm’s way? Read more.