Bird Flu Is Raging on a Mink Farm. It Could Spark a Human Pandemic, Experts Say, but Officials Won’t Act.

Utah hushed up brewing catastrophic threat to keep animal rights groups in the dark

The strain of bird flu that’s ripped through American barns for the last four years has killed two people who caught it from sick animals. But as far as anyone can tell, humans can’t spread it. The virus has remained a true “bird” flu, tailored to attach to avian cells, not invade human throats and noses, where coughing and sneezing reliably spew droplets. Under the right conditions, however, that could change. A single mutation could give the b…

Bird Flu Is Raging on a Mink Farm. It Could Spark a Human Pandemic, Experts Say, but Officials Won’t Act.

Federal officials brushed off the issue as Utah prioritized the fur industry’s interests. Little has been done to stop the spread of the virus and ensure it can’t spread to humans, a failure that experts called “irresponsible” and “astounding.”

Bird flu is raging on a mink farm. It could spark a human pandemic, experts say, but officials won’t act

ProPublica reports: The strain of bird flu that’s ripped through American barns for the last four years has killed two people who caught it from sick animals. But as far as anyone can tell, humans can’t spread it. The virus has remained a true “bird” flu, tailored to attach to avian cells, not invade human throats and noses, where coughing and sneezing reliably spew droplets. Under the right conditions, however, that could change. A single mutat…

Incompetence, Tempered Only By Carelessness

ProPublica reports on a Utah mink farm that may have created the perfect environment for bird flu to make the jump to human transmission and the public health officials who are just letting nature take its course.

Sidney's Picks: The Next Pandemic?

October 23, 2026Sidney's Picks: The Next Pandemic? Photo credit: Farmed mink, NAF, Creative Commons. The Best of the Week’s News Bird flu is ravaging an Utah mink farm. Humans rarely catch the deadly virus from birds, but they can catch it from mink. Federal authorities refuse to act. (ProPublica)   Many OB-GYNs were driven out of Idaho by the abortion ban, and those who stayed are struggling to hang on. (NYT)   Conspiracy theorists known as So…