The extremely deadly D1.1 strain of the H5N1 bird flu, which has been ripping through the nation’s poultry population in recent weeks, has now gotten into the cattle population in the state of Nevada. This is the very first time that cattle in the U.S. have ever tested positive for this strain. What this means is that we are facing a very serious threat to our food supply.
As I detailed earlier this week, the U.S. is dealing with the worst egg shortage that it has ever experienced, and it is likely to get even worse as this new strain spreads. Meanwhile, the size of the U.S. cattle herd could be reduced even further by this new strain, and it is already at the lowest level that we have seen since 1961.
As of January, the total number of cattle and calves was 86.7 million, down by 1% from last year, reported Market Intel. The beef herd has shrunk 40% since 1975 to the smallest size since 1961.
Beef cows that have calved hit a record low at 27.9 million, revealed the U.S. Department of Agriculture, while replacement heifers also decreased, indicating continued contraction in the cattle cycle.
In 1961, 182 million people were living in the United States. Today, 334 million people live in the United States.
So now we have the same amount of beef that we did in 1961, but we have nearly twice as many people to feed.
A beef shortage is here.
Needless to say, the price of beef is going to go higher as supplies of beef just keep getting tighter and tighter.
I don’t know why the mainstream media is not making a bigger deal about this. I know that they are absolutely fixated on the drama that is unfolding in Washington D.C. right now, but this new strain of the H5N1 bird flu is an extremely huge story.
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Six dairy herds in Nevada have tested positive for a newer variant of the H5N1 bird flu virus that’s been associated with severe infections in humans, according to the Nevada Department of Agriculture.
Scientists say these infections with a different type of virus mark an inflection point in the nation’s efforts to contain the virus: It may be here to stay.
The strain is not the same one that has been circulating in other dairy herds throughout the United States, a virus called B3.13. The newer version, D1.1, has previously been detected only in birds and in people who had contact with infected birds.
This is the very first time that D1.1 has been detected in any of our dairy herds.
Up until just recently, the milder B3.13 strain of H5N1 was the dominant strain in birds all over the nation.
But over the past few months there has been a dramatic change. The D1.1 strain has become dominant, and it has been ripping through bird populations from coast to coast.
That bird flu strain, called D1.1 by scientists, was also linked to a fatal human case in Louisiana last year after exposure to sick birds. The D1.1 strain has emerged in recent months to dominate infections in wild birds and poultry flocks across North America.
Since the pandemic began in early 2022, “around 957 dairy herds and more than 153 million poultry have been affected” by the bird flu.
According to the CDC, around 957 dairy herds and more than 153 million poultry have been affected by types of bird flu in the United States.
The devastation that this pandemic has caused has been immense, but nearly all of the carnage that we have witnessed so far has been caused by the relatively mild B3.13 strain.
Now the D1.1 strain is spreading like wildfire, and this has pushed egg prices to dizzying heights.
Egg prices continue to move higher due to limited inventory due to an avian flu outbreak.
The volume of trailer load loose egg sales decreased 16% at the end of January.
Prices for white large shell eggs hit $8.97 per dozen.
Delivered prices on the California-compliant wholesale loose egg market increased $0.37 to $8.72 per dozen in the last week of January, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Of course there are many supermarkets where the shelves are completely empty and there are no eggs to be purchased at any price.
Unsurprisingly, eggs have now become a target for thieves because they have become so valuable.
In fact, someone just stole 100,000 eggs from a trailer in Pennsylvania, and police have still not been able to determine who did it.
The heist of 100,000 eggs from the back of a trailer in Pennsylvania has become a whodunit that police have yet to crack.
Four days after the theft that law enforcement say could be tied to the sky-high cost of eggs, no leads have come in, Trooper First Class Megan Frazer, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Police, said Wednesday.
There is something else that I would like for you to consider.
What is going to happen if the new D1.1 strain of the bird flu starts spreading widely among humans?
Already, it has killed a 65-year-old victim in Louisiana, and it almost killed a 13-year-old girl in Canada.
In November, an otherwise healthy 13-year-old girl from British Columbia, Canada, was infected with D1.1 bird flu from an unknown source.
She had not been exposed to any birds or cattle, and her only risk factor was obesity.
She went into respiratory failure and had to be placed on life support, though she eventually recovered.
And a 65-year-old patient in Louisiana died last month after being hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms from D1.1.
The B3.13 strain only caused mild illness in humans. But the D1.1 strain is a killer.
One expert is warning that if this strain “were to mutate and gain the ability to efficiently spread from person to person”, we could be facing a new “global pandemic.”
Professor Bobbi Pritt of the Mayo Clinic issued similar warnings to the Daily Express US last month.
“If the virus were to mutate and gain the ability to efficiently spread from person to person, then this could result in a large outbreak or even a global pandemic,” she said.
I realize that this is not welcome news for many of you.
But the truth is that we were warned that pestilences would be one of the major themes of this period.
It has been less than a month since President Trump was inaugurated, and now it appears that he will have a major health scare to contend with.
My advice is to be prepared to deal with another unprecedented global health panic, because this crisis could spiral out of control at any time.
Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
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