Politics
Is New York Ready for Bird Flu?
The state has stockpiled only one drug, which dates to the ’90s, to fight the disease if it spreads to the human population.
Good morning. It’s Wednesday. Today we’ll look at New York’s preparations for a bird flu pandemic. We’ll also get details on $54 million that Gov. Kathy Hochul is allocating to get work on the long-awaited extension of the Second Avenue subway going again.
Credit…Dave Sanders for The New York Times
One infectious disease expert says it could be an Achilles’ heel someday: New York’s plan for fighting bird flu, if it begins spreading among people, largely depends on one drug developed in the 1990s. A newer antiviral drug is now available, but the state has not stored a single dose of it in case there’s an emergency.
The bird flu outbreak has spread through dairy cows in the United States over the past few months. Federal officials have repeatedly said that the risk to the general public is low.
But some infectious disease experts are worried. I asked Joseph Goldstein, a Metro reporter who covers public health and health care in New York, to discuss whether New York has too much riding on a single drug — without a fallback plan.
Why are some public health experts worried that New York State has only Tamiflu on hand to counter a large outbreak of bird flu?
