Equally important: the cats died days later.<p>Here's a good map of the bird flu breakouts.<p><a href="https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/01/21/134m-poultry-and-counting-interactive-charts-show-hardest-hit-counties-in-bird-flu-crisis/" rel="nofollow">https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/01/21/134m-poultry-and-c...</a><p>Most people are not paying enough attention to this.<p>Another real danger arises with the so-called "mixing vessel phenomenon," which occurs when different virus strains infect the same host simultaneously, particularly in the context of influenza viruses.<p>This primarily happens in animals like pigs, which can be infected by both avian and human influenza strains. When multiple virus strains infect the same cells, their genetic material can undergo reassortment - where segments of genetic material from different viruses combine to create new viral variants.<p>So a corona variant could mix with this fast-spreading avian flu and produce something that impacts humans more.<p>Viruses are like drunken teenagers -- they behave worse when they mix!
Actual link <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/health/cdc-bird-flu-cats-people.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/health/cdc-bird-flu-cats-...</a>
Week old story. Please post actual links instead of archives.<p>Earlier: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42967699">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42967699</a>