The Washington Weekly Roundup is a standard feature on this blog. The intent is to bring together information from around the state and nation to help you navigate travel, risks, and daily life. The round-up will take a OneHealth approach. One Health is an approach that recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and our shared environment.

This is going to be a simple post, my friends. I have been thinking a lot about community resliancy and what my role is in supporting that. I think it is primarily in restoring trust in science in our community. Here is my ask - tell me what you need. Are you one of my nerdy friends who is well versed in science but feeling concerned about who to trust?

The Washington Weekly Roundup will be a standard feature on this blog. The intent is to bring together information from around the state and nation to help you navigate travel, risks, and daily life. The round-up will take a OneHealth approach. One Health is an approach that recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and our shared environment.

The first thing to know is that this isn't new. H5N1 circulates in wild and domestic bird as a matter of course. In 2022, a new strain of H5N1 that has some mutations which allow it to infect humans and other animals (cats in particular) was detected in Washington State. To date, there have been 14 suspected and confirmed cases and no deaths in humans in Washington.

In the 1800's tuberculosis was viewed as a romantic and beautiful way to die. Glistening, sunken eyes, thin frames, and pale, translucent skin became the beauty ideals and death was the Don Juan of the age, romancing young and old alike. Coffins with bells were all the rage in the Victorian west as consumptions victims hovered betwen life and death with few ways to discern the difference.

Get ready for some dirty talk on diseases and disease mitigation. I would say that we are in uncharted territory these days, but that's not completely true. We have been here before, when the average life expectancy was about 50 years, infectious diseases dominated the childhood top-ten causes of death and things like deafness, paralysis, and sterility were par for the course.