The Pandemic Planners Come for Hoof and Hen…and Us Again

On December 31, 2024, NIAID, led by Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, published an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine regarding recent H5N1 Bird flu cases in the U. S. and Canada. The report covered 46 mild human cases in the United States and one severe case in Canada involving a 13-year-old girl. Most cases involved conjunctivitis, with no deaths reported. The editorial notes that 45 of the 46 infected had known animal exposure, and only one hospitalization occurred for a non-respiratory issue.

The authors questioned the current media panic regarding H5N1, particularly the calls for extensive animal testing and new mRNA vaccines. They highlighted that there has been no human-to-human transmission and suggested that the virus likely originated from U. S. government laboratories involved in gain-of-function research. Critics assert that the continued call for mass culling of farm animals and the use of vaccines lacks justification, especially since many animals exposed to the virus survive and recover.

Marrazzo and Ison advocated for continued surveillance of the virus's mutations and potential human transmission. They also emphasized the need for vaccine development. The piece raised concerns about the dangerous precedent of gain-of-function research that has returned after being banned by President Obama. The authors connected the development of vaccines to larger patterns of profit-making, asserting that the pandemic preparedness approach seems to serve a protection racket model where those who create biological threats also seek to profit from their “solutions. ”

The call to action proposed by the editorial included ending all gain-of-function research, eliminating vaccine liability protections, shifting focus on infectious disease research to new therapeutics rather than vaccine development, and reforming the National Institutes of Health. The author underscored the need for sensible food supply decisions and stressed the importance of learning from the COVID-19 experience to minimize fear-based responses in the future.

In summary, the discourse surrounding the H5N1 cases has sparked criticism of health agencies and their recommendations. The underlying message emphasizes the need for a comprehensive review of current pandemic preparedness practices, with suggestions to radically change the approach to managing public health threats. The goal is to avoid the mistakes made during the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure that the public health system operates transparently and for the benefit of society. 

https://brownstone.org/articles/the-pandemic-planners-come-for-hoof-and-henand-us-again/