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By Michael Bielawski
Vermont’s Health Commissioner Mark Levine told lawmakers while discussing the H5 bird flu virus that new animal-to-human viruses could become more commonplace.
“That is sort of what our future is going to look like,” Levine told the House Health Care and Agricultural committees on Tuesday. “Some of it related to climate change, some of it related to globalization, the way people interact with their environment, the proximity of humans and animals. … Lots of explanations but this is really the way things are going to go into the future.”
He was describing what’s called “zoonosis”. Levine said its definition “is an infection that’s normally seen in the animal world, but jumps to the human world.”
Regarding the latest H5 bird flu, Levine suggested Vermont livestock is being impacted. It is also impacting birds domestic and wild.
“But that’s why as a public health official, I’m way more concerned about the birds because it’s the wild birds that are the ones that are incubating this virus all the time and letting it mutate and bringing it to [the farm] when they die, etc,” Levine said.
He said that domesticated and wild animals can spread it to one another.
“And they brought it to several of these barnyard flocks, because it was quite clear that, potentially, there was a pond that both sets of birds were using and interacting with one another,” he said.
First human casualty
The first H5 bird flu death had been recorded in Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Health reports “The patient who had been hospitalized with the first human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza [HPAI], or H5N1, in Louisiana and the U.S., has died. The patient was over the age of 65 and was reported to have underlying medical conditions.
It continues that the patient contracted the virus after being exposed to “a combination of a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds.”
Levine touched upon the situation.
“What we have seen in the Louisiana patient illustrated this is the virus that entered that person’s body was different in terms of its genotype than the virus that had at the time of death,” he said.
He further said that there had been some mutations of the virus which is not unexpected. He reiterated that changes in the virus must be monitored closely to prevent worse scenarios.
Fox News in Las Vegas is reporting that there has been a farm worker who was infected. Initial reports are the man is OK.
“The worker’s illness is mild similar to pink eye with eye redness and irritation. CDC officials say there is no evidence the virus has spread from the infected farm worker to any other person. The agency continues to say the virus poses a low risk to the general public.”
“public health risk is low”
According to the CDC, on a global scale, H5 bird flu “is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows with several recent human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers.”
It further states, “While the current public health risk is low, CDC is watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with animal exposures.”
Emergency drill
Meanwhile, the state has taken the initiative of roleplaying a hypothetical outbreak scenario to test local and state health services in how they would respond to an outbreak.
Levine said, “So we had the state agencies, we had farmers, we had community partners, we had hospitals and health care partners, and basically the problem was a hypothetical outbreak on a farm in Franklin County.”
He said it allowed them to see what they have and what they need.
“And we had people around tables and all getting into great discussions and figuring out what they actually had now as resources, what resources they didn’t have at all and would need to have, and how to work well together with each other so we minimize the impact of any such kind of incidents,” Levine said.
More vaccines?
Levine suggested that folks should keep taking vaccinations, especially older populations.
“And we’ve seen that just with COVID experience which is why we’re always so hyper about older people and immunocompromised or chronically ill people getting vaccinated so that doesn’t happen in that,” he said.
Health Care legislators’ contact information
See all bills assigned to this committee here. Constituents may contact committee members (click link on name for bio, party affiliation, etc.) with comments, questions, and information at the following email addresses:
House Health Care
Rep. Alyssa Black, Chair, ablack@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Francis McFaun, Vice Chair, fmcfaun@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Daisy Berbeco, Ranking Member, dberbeco@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Brian Cina, bcina@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Mari Cordes, Clerk, mcordes@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Wendy Critchlow, wcritchlow@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Allen “Penny” Demar, ademar@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Leslie Goldman, lgoldman@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Lori Houghton, LHoughton@leg.state.vt.us
All committee transcripts are available at http://www.goldendomevt.com. The Committee meeting video is available at the committee’s YouTube channel. The committee meets in the morning in Room 42.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle
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Categories: Environment, Health Care, Public Safety
Global warming and climate Change are not proven science. They are unproven theories. Many also say they are a scam and fear-mongering tactics being used to take tyrannical control of people property and monies.
Let’s start “requiring” anyone who declares global warming and climate change as settled and factual, to have to “prove” their beliefs. Settled science requires proof. Theories are suppositions and guesses.
Critical thinking persons would like to know how anyone envisions controlling the atmosphere over any area when the earth rotates every 24 hours?
100 % agree!
Plain old b.s. and propaganda and fear mongering… control and manipulation that puts people into fear and complacent… works everytime.
We are doing this to ourselves… if we don’t stop, the end is inevitable.
When we sow the wind, we will always reap the whirlwind in our hubris to be God.
WE are killing each other with our hubris… and for some…malintent.
God is allowing this… hoping we will come to our senses and realize we are messing IN HIS DOMAIN.
The world was perfect when he made it.
We are the ones effing it up.
Let go and let God.
More BS from WHO and WEF. Keep an eye on them. It’s all about controlling you and how they want you to live. DO NOT COMPLY.
Yeah – Globalization sure is causing health problems! So why do you socialist freaks out of VT keep DEMANDING all these “refugees” out of third world countries including Africa to be flown into the USA & into rural VT to live?????
Yes, polio is back. TB is back. And MARBURG(!!) are infecting Americans! Because of YOU!
Peoples are different for a REASON. Countries need to care for their OWN.
Stop forcing “diversity” – it has NEVER worked, will not work now, & it is indeed causing health issues for VT & the entire USA.
A most accurate headline would include “Health Commissioner” in quotes as well.
This guy should hang for his lies. Mark, you know what is an epidemic/pandemic, cancer, heart disease, blood diseases, and all of these other sickness’s that are now on the rise after the experimental drug you pushed under false pretenses has destroyed people’s immune system and their wallets. Bet you won’t talk about that will you?
I never once knew anyone who died from covid until after the shots came out (even then they died from the deathly care that was given, not from the common cold err I mean “covid”), and then I knew 7 people who died in less than 2 weeks from “other causes”.
This guy is still lying too. Love to see what he says about Kerry Mullis and PCR testing.
And I have a fishing gear package you can buy for a mere $20 per month for 120 months. Contents include: hook, line, and sinker.
“…the proximity of humans and animals.” This is total BS. There was a lot closer proximity of animals to humans in the past, when most of the population resided on small farms and relied on horses for transportation.
What soon to be retired commissioner levine didn’t say about zoonosis, media hype and the biological experiments called “gain of function” is deafening. Coupled with the pretending, obfuscation and outright lies perpetrated by government “officials” world wide reminds me that no government ‘official”, even levine can ever be trusted to provide truthful information. None. Ever. The fraud that was and continues to be perpetrated surrounding covid-19 and “gain of function” experiments will forever have many forego vaccines and treatments, because fauci lied, levine and ten thousand others reinforced the lie.
What paid studies are they using for this? If the Attorney General’s office needs a lawsuit to file, file against this public official making false claims using fake paid for science studies.
Clever to turn the term “gain of function” to “zoonosis”. The receipts for all the thievery and fraud is pouring out like a firehose. The biolabs and nefarious insidious experiments being exposed and who paid for it – we did! The climate change BS is being exposed as well. Riddle me this: How is that weather modification (aka chem trails) is not a violation of the Clean Air Act? People are actually taking independent samples of soils now – what they are finding is quite stunning. Can’t wait to enjoy the the benzine-laden fruits and vegatables this coming season. Depopulation, wealth transfer, reset – Agenda 2030.
LOL! What ever happened to acid rain and the deteriorating ozone layer? Apparently all fixed!
Now excuse me while I go watch it dump snow and enjoy my global warming.
Lurch Levine needs a new necktie for his retirement party.
Levine has been nothing but a tool and oracle of the Deep State and the Vermont version of Anthony Fauxci.
An Italian one.
More the sky is falling, the sky is falling from the left, show me the data this is like saying Santa Claus is real …………………………. It’s true, believe me !!
Wake up people.