Speaking from Experience
Perspective from a WHO leader who battled H5N1 in SE Asian poultry 20 years ago
WHO's Farrar: Social context is key to halting bird flu spread - STAT (statnews.com) (subscription may be required)
In another prescient interview by Helen Braswell, Jeremy Farrar, top scientist at WHO described his experiences in dealing with H5N1 outbreaks in poultry flocks in Asia 20 years ago. Officials attempted to cull sick chickens without compensation, driving marketing of exposed birds underground and further spreading infection.
“You can’t just take the virus and the biological surveillance and divorce it from the environment and the social construct that it’s happening in,” Farrar said in an interview from WHO headquarters in Geneva. “That’s the reality.”
As I discussed last night (One Health Science IS Politics (substack.com) we must first seek to understand diverse fears and motives before proposing or imposing new measures. We are fresh off a very divisive end to the COVID19 pandemic response. Collective animal and human health interventions are critical for society to flourish; however, consensus for actions is essential first.