Cats that became infected with bird flu might have spread the virus to humans in the same household and vice versa, according to data that briefly appeared online in a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but then abruptly vanished. The data appear to have been mistakenly posted but includes crucial information about the risks of bird flu to people and pets.
In one household, an infected cat might have spread the virus to another cat and to a human adolescent, according to a copy of the data table obtained by The New York Times. The cat died four days after symptoms began. In a second household, an infected dairy farmworker appears to have been the first to show symptoms, and a cat then became ill two days later and died on the third day.
The table was the lone mention of bird flu in a scientific report published on Wednesday that was otherwise devoted to air quality and the Los Angeles County wildfires. The table was not present in an embargoed copy of the paper shared with news media on Tuesday, and is not included in the versions currently available online. The table appeared briefly at around 1 p.m., when the paper was first posted, but it is unclear how or why the error might have occurred.
The virus, called H5N1, is primarily adapted to birds, but it has been circulating in dairy cattle since early last year. H5N1 has also infected at least 67 Americans but does not yet have the ability to spread readily among people. Only one American, in Louisiana, has died of an H5N1 infection so far.
The report was part of the C.D.C.âs prestigious Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which, until two weeks ago, had regularly published every week since the first installment decades ago. But a communications ban on the agency had held the reports back, until the wildfire report was published on Wednesday.
Experts said that the finding that cats might have passed the virus to people was not entirely unexpected. But they were alarmed that the finding had not yet been released to the public.
Iâd at least consider blaming those who built everything else to be loud, who installed high-pitched squeals to drive kids away, etc. Iâm sure most of it is kept under 95 dB, of course, since the safe limit is supposed to be 85 dB, even if pain can be incapacitating at 65 dB.
But the noise-cancelling headpains make their own high-pitched squeals, at least if worn over glasses.
But the medical issue the article is about is not hearing loss, sufferers were given hearing tests and their hearing was fine, they have developed difficulties mentally processing sounds.
To sum up the articleâs argument briefly, but hopefully accurately, the brain learns to process and pick out the important sounds we need to be aware of out of the many sounds we hear. The speculators in the article posit that the noise-cancelling headphones pre-process sounds, thus depriving the developing brains of young people the opportunity to learn how to do this for themselves.
Maybe, but I dunno. One example wears her n-c headphones âup to five hours a day!â But that means she spends roughly twice as much of her waking life not wearing the headphones. Seems to me, her brain has gotten plenty of time to learn.
Itâs admittedly not my field, but surely Covid is the first potential culprit to be investigated.
But thatâs taboo in this damned world.
In my experience, this is not true.
If there are many people speaking, none are understandable; painscreens, idling trucks, construction noise, etc. also interfere.
Kevin Hassett on Trumpâs avian flu plan: "What we need to do is have better ways w/ bio-security & medication & so on to make sure that the perimeter doesnât have to kill the chickens. To have a better, smarter, perimeterâŚtheyâre killing chickens to stop the spread, but chickens donât really fly"
Hooboy, Alabama is Alabama-ing again: ivermectin for all!
This proposed bill would drop the prescription requirement.
Now, now. I think the Alabama legislature is being wise and proactive. After all, theyâre going to need boatloads of the stuff once âraw waterâ really catches on.
At least bleach is available OTC without all that risk assessment business.
For anyone who needed reminders that viruses do not respect borders.
All of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, and 13 people have been hospitalized so far. Gaines County is the epicenter of the outbreak, with 42 cases confirmed among residents, according to DSHS.
Meanwhile, in neighboring New Mexico, three unrelated cases of measles were confirmed last week in Lea County, which borders Gaines County, according to the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH).
The âunrelatedâ part caught my attention. Most likely explanation is that they are, in fact, related and there are folks carrying the virus who either are not symptomatic or are not seeking medical care. This is a recipe for serious problems should this travel very far. Unfortunately, vaccine avoiders tend to cluster and this can get very big very fast.
Got the first dose of the shingles vaccine this afternoon.
Hoping the weekend wonât be too rough 
More on measles, related to adults getting revaccinated:
âIf you have been vaccinated with two doses of vaccine as per routine, you have a 95-plus percent chance of being completely protected throughout your life,â Schaffner says.
But public health experts say there are some adults who should consider getting revaccinated. That includes older adults who were born after 1957 and were vaccinated before 1968.
But Ratner says there are several situations in which the CDC recommends an additional dose of measles vaccine for adults who are considered at high risk. That includes people who are in college settings, work in health care, live or are in close contact with immunocompromised people, or are traveling internationally.
Iâm definitely included in those categories. Glad I revaxed!
So, I should get a booster since I teach college classes?
Consider this, if youâre of GenX age: I was vaccinated in infancy but had measles when I was 16 (late 1980s). The county health dept. told me, at the time, that a whole cohort (not just in that county; I lived elsewhere back in infancy) had been vaccinated too early; after that they gave the dose(s?) a few months later for better efficacy. I donât think they counted it as an epidemic but there were enough of us that it was A Thing that spring. (Someone I knew had measles & chicken pox at the same time.)
So if you were vaccinated as an infant while Nixon was still POTUS, maybe look into a measles booster.
*Not a doctor nor do I play one on TV
EtA:
Yeah, that 