For bird flu, Dr. Liana Wayne says,

Dr. Leanna Wayne said Sunday that the lack of bird flu tests doesn’t mean the virus isn’t alive in humans, and she feels the federal government “should have learned our lesson from COVID” and been proactive in making Should be. Tests are available to Americans — and don’t wait for labs to characterize cases and their severity.

“I think we should have learned our lesson from COVID, because we’re not testing it doesn’t mean the virus isn’t there,” said Dr. Leanna Wayne, a former Wayne, former Baltimore health commissioner, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.””

“We need to have rapid tests, home tests, available to all farmworkers, their families, the clinicians who are caring for them, so that we don’t have to wait for public labs and CDC labs to tell us what to do.” What is bird flu or not,” he added.

The recent outbreak of bird flu is caused by a mutation of the H5N1 virus that infects humans more easily, compared to past variants of the virus that targeted birds and not mammals.

on Thursday, The CDC reported. The first severe case of bird flu in the United States was found in a Patient in Louisiana who was infected by a flock of backyard chickens. The Louisiana case was first confirmed by health officials on Friday, bringing the total number of reported human cases of H5 bird flu in the United States to 61. Another severe case of H5N1 has been reported in a young man in British Columbia.

According to the CDC, the mutations found in humans occur when the virus adapts to its host. The genetic changes in H5N1 samples from an infected human were not present in samples from the flock of backyard chickens that infected the patient, suggesting that the relevant mutations did not arise until after transmission of the virus. In the report, federal health officials said that spread between close contacts is more likely when these changes develop during the clinical course of human infection.

“This is a person who is very sick. But not only that, the researchers isolated the virus from the person who is sick in Louisiana, and they found that this particular strain of the virus has mutations that It’s more likely to bind to airway receptors,” Wynn said Sunday, adding that the change allows bird flu and seasonal flu to occur at the same time.

Wayne added that he believes the number of H5N1 cases currently being reported in the U.S. is likely due to a lack of testing.

“We have outbreaks in poultry in all 50 states; outbreaks in cattle in 16 states. In California, in the last 30 days, over 300 flocks have tested positive, and now we have bird flu in humans. There are 66 cases, and that’s almost certainly a significant undercount, because we’re not testing nearly enough,” Wynn said.

Wynn also urged the Biden administration on Sunday to approve the H5N1 vaccine, which is already ready and manufacturers have been contracted to make about 5 million doses but is awaiting FDA approval — it said. There is one important difference from the early stages of COVID.

“It’s been researched. They can get it approved now, and give the vaccine to farm workers and vulnerable people as well,” Wayne said. Wayne said. “I think that’s the right approach, because we don’t know what the Trump administration is going to do about the bird flu. If they have people who are anti-vaccine, could they block the approval of the vaccine? Are? If they don’t. I don’t want to know how much bird flu there is, can they stop the test?”

The push for quick approval of the vaccine and additional testing is rooted in concern that the Trump administration could potentially delay the vaccine.

“I don’t want to wait for the Trump administration to potentially have a vaccine saying they want more evidence,” Wayne said. “Look, evidence is always good and facts are always good. New research is always good. But you also have to weigh against potential catastrophes, like we might have with bird flu, like we have with COVID. was for.”

Some of President-elect Trump’s cabinet, such as Dr. Marty MacRae, who is set to lead the FDA, described Wayne as “very capable” and an “independent thinker” who really listens to the science. And ready to change his mind when something new comes along. The evidence that has come to light.” However, there is more concern about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Controversial Pick for Health and Human Services Secretary which has spread misinformation about vaccines and autism.

“I’ve talked to my colleagues in medicine and public health, and I think we all share that concern, especially about Robert F. Kennedy, who is the head of Health and Human Services,” Wayne said. Nominated for.” “Kennedy has supported many views in the past that are anti-vaccine. In fact, he has been one of the leading anti-vaccine advocates in the country, if not the world, over the past two decades.”