“This may be our last chance to halt bird flu in humans, and we are blowing it,” Zeynep Tufekci said in The New York Times. There might be only one detected human case, but that’s a flashing red light. “By the time we’ve detected 10, it’s probably too late” to stop the spread, one expert said. The problem? Authorities don’t seem to know what’s going on, and they’re not quickly sharing what they do know. It’s all too reminiscent of the last viral disaster, but with an edge. “Four years later we have an added layer of polarization and distrust to work around.”

‘Tepid and opaque’

The virus has “ravaged the US poultry industry” since 2022, Kenny Torrella said at Vox. Despite that, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has offered a “tepid and opaque” response to the spread — slow to track the jump from birds to cows, and similarly unhurried to share information about the virus’ genetic sequencing. The challenge: The agency is responsible for both regulating and promoting American agriculture. That’s an “irresolvable conflict” which results in an approach that’s “heavy on the promotion and light on the regulation.”

It’s time to “demonstrate that we’ve learned the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Jaime M. Yassif said at CNN. That means ramping up vaccine funding, increasing livestock surveillance and stepping up emergency response planning. There is no time for governments — in America and around the world — to see what happens next: “If they wait for a confirmed outbreak among people, it will be extremely difficult to prevent the uncontrolled spread of the virus.”