Not a Doctor

  • It’s time to take action on bird flu

    When this version of H5N1 first landed in North America, borne on the wings of migratory birds blown off course from Europe in late 2021, Seema Lakdawala followed the developments closely, but she wasn’t overly worried about it leading to a pandemic in humans yet. Here’s what Lakdawala, an influenza virologist and co-director of the Center for…

    Melody Schreiber

  • Why experts think we’ll have another flu pandemic

    And how climate change and large-scale industrial agricultural amplify outbreaks. Scientists often debate where the next pandemic will come from and what virus will cause it, but they tend to agree on one thing: At some point, the world will see another flu pandemic, I reported recently for Sierra Magazine. “If you go back in…

    Melody Schreiber

  • What is bird flu, and why worry about it?

    The H5N1 outbreak in the United States is heating up. Here’s what you need to know. I’ve been writing about bird flu for some time now, but I realized I’ve never really talked about what it is, how people are getting sick, and why it’s a threat. The past few months brought a few worrying…

    Melody Schreiber

  • Is bird flu evolving to make us sicker?

    How to think about bird flu severity and viral evolution.

    Melody Schreiber