Government's Delay on Bird Flu Almost Sparked a Global Pandemic

Black Cow in foreground, standing in a field. Herd of various coloured bullocks stand around black. Sky provides a space for copy.

A nightmare scenario almost unfolded in Texas last spring, and the government’s response—or lack thereof—could have turned it into a full-blown pandemic. It started when dairy cows in Texas began dropping like flies, feverish and struggling to breathe, with no milk production and dead barn pigeons scattered everywhere. But what’s even worse? The dead cats that had eaten the pigeons or drank contaminated milk. This grisly scene had veterinarians sounding the alarm, suspecting an unprecedented outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in cattle.

What happened next will make your blood boil. An urgent email was sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Iowa. But instead of an immediate response, days went by with silence. It wasn’t until March 25 that the USDA confirmed that the H5N1 strain had infected dairy cows in Texas and Kansas. This revelation was nothing short of a shockwave through both the scientific and agricultural communities.

H5N1 had been infecting a variety of animals globally—skunks, bears, sea lions—but this was the first known occurrence in cattle. Could this inaction have sparked a pandemic? Dr. Henry Miller, a physician and molecular biologist with a history at the FDA, joins me to discuss how the government’s slow response to this threat put us all at risk.