Rant: Legacy media sucks shit. I’m not an epidemiologist and I need context but 74% seems really fucking bad to me.
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I googled but only Twitter and Bluesky have info. The page is at usda.gov and the data stuff doesn’t load for me. There’s a “Download Data” link at the top if you have the same problem.
I based my headline on this Bluesky post.
H5N1 Bird Flu Spreads Rapidly Through California Dairy Herds
The USDA has confirmed that five more dairy herds in California are infected, bringing the total number to 732.
As of now, 74% of the state’s dairy herds have tested positive for the virus.
[Bluesky link deleted]
I’m going insane for a variety of reasons - Trump, the GOP, the dems, and (legacy) media. The media should be informing the public so it knows the answers to vital questions like yours. One day outlets like MSNBC will suddenly say something like “91% of California’s dairy herds have tested positive for H5N1…” and the public will be angry and yelling. “How the fuck did it suddenly get to 91%!” I made 91% up of course. But my logic is that if the entirety of major outlets (even AP, UPI too) are ignoring 7x% - they’ll also ignore 8x%.
And then the media will be angry at the public as misdirection for its own failure to do the basics of its job. In fact - op-eds will probably bemoan the public’s lack of understanding of this pandemic. Gee, why is that?
This is like powerlessly watching a super-duper-slomo train wreck.