black holes matter

tuberculosis and bird flu

The federal decision to darken many government websites, particularly in the sciences and associated fields, is a worrisome one because it not only prevents dissemination of information but is controversial. That controversy in turn creates a clear and present danger we are already seeing because the decision is sucking up media air as we see two significant health problems expand while not receiving much attention.

The state of Kansas may have been a joke years ago when the phrase “What’s wrong with Kansas?” had its moment in pop culture. So many ridiculous memes such as Kansas is mind-numbing drive through 424 miles flatlands, isn’t it? No, it’s actually a beautiful reminder of the crowning glory of U.S. agriculture. People are down to earth (yes, I am a Midwesterner and bloody proud of it). They are discerning, if skeptical.

Smack dab in the middle of the country, Kansas is not known for an enormous population (just under 3 million), scintillating popular culture (Kansans often follow KU sports or perhaps K State when they play their cross state rivals or some top five school in basketball or football but the cultural options are far broader than that), or vast cities (how many people even know either that Kansas City is primarily in Missouri rather than Kansas or that Topeka is the state capital?). Some know of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s family home in Abilene (it is a marvelous site commemorating the late President and World War II hero) and many know Dodge City was a cowboy town. Most people have no clue that driving east to west across what seems like a table top of terrain actually includes a significant but steady altitude gain as one approaches the Rockies’ foothills in neighboring Colorado. In short, people don’t know much about Kansas.

At the same time, on 27 January 2025, Kansans are struggling through the largest tuberculosis outbreak in U.S. history. 66 people currently have the disease, overwhelmingly in the suburbs of Kansas City with at least 79 others carrying the disease in a “latent” stage (meaning those affected carry the illness which could transform into an active illness when untreated, further spreading the damage to breathing and lungs). Huh. Really? Gee, that’s too bad but why should anyone in Maine or Los Angeles care?

TB, as we more often refer to the illness, is certainly neither Ebola or the Spanish Flu (the latter of which is hypothesized to have begun its murder of 20 million globally from the soil near Fort Funiston, Kansas in 1918). TB is a bacteria which can affect an infected individual for years, frequently found in the poorest portions of urban areas where extended exposure in close, cramped quarters leads to transmission by aerial contact. Kansas may not be the most cosmopolitan place in the world but it’s a relatively affluent population who live in a pretty nice community for raising families.

TB also was thought conquered, much as we believe with smallpox, through the miracle of modern meds. I recall in the early 1990s when New York City faced a shocking outbreak, smaller in size, but thought surprising in the modern era because no one should still contract the bacteria. Yet these recurrent health problems happen because of global movements of people—a trend we all take for granted. The Kansas cases wouldn’t appear likely immigrants working in agriculture as afflicted Johnson and particularly Wyandotte counties are urban and suburban population.

This outbreak still carries risk of further damage to the health of millions, particularly as Kansas City was listed only last week as an excellent location for retirees as the fifth cheapest place in the country, availability of education opportunities and health care, significantly lower cost of living than other locations, housing availability, and relatively easy lifestyle. This is precisely the population with compromised immune systems who could face infection as the problem expands. This seems a low probability problem except that we aren’t revealing statistics to know whether more aggressive interventions by doctors need occur to stop the cases in their tracks. The lack of federal information and media coverage, somewhat of a dynamic process, could become problematic.

The “bird flu” risk, however, is attracting increasing coverage despite the federal websites going dark because avian flocks and cattle herds around the globe are registering the virus. Anyone walking into a grocery store is encountering egg prices climbing dramatically farmers cull flocks following increased testing of chickens around the country. I don’t know where you live but egg prices in the Annapolis area are up roughly 200% since last summer when concern about high egg prices was a campaign topic.

The H5 virus variation is appearing occasionally among farm workers as well. Ohio is an epicenter. The illness is rarely fatal as it manifests through eye redness, fatigue, and struggling to breathe but more extreme symptoms include diarrhea, nausea, and occasional seizures: hardly the stuff of a fun work day. No person-to-person infections have occurred within the United States, at this juncture, but have been reported just today in Britain as well as elsewhere. The most immediate effect remains on the costs of eggs and milk destroyed because of contamination but, we have seen over the twenty-first century alone (has it only been a quarter century so far?), the these viruses morph.

Without official reporting on either of these two illnesses alone, a couple of consequences could (though not necessarily will) ensue. First, we could vastly overestimate the risks of the transmission of TB or bird flu. This could cause further financial harm to farms or ranchers who preemptively cull to stop the spread while increasing medical preparation against the virus’s effects more than the scale of the problem requires. That is a form of overprotecting of our population, a noble if expensive effect.

More problematic is underreporting because we could be woefully unready for an explosion in cases. That could lead to a shortage in hospital beds and/or medications (anti-virals for the flu or antibiotics for the tuberculosis), thus allowing the problem to spread further. Additionally, by underestimating the scope of the problem, pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to work on responses. Whether you think “Big Pharma” is evil or a savior, one must recognize that scientific research—particularly as the federal government simultaneously pares back on scientific funding—is extraordinarily expensive because the implications of any results are vitally important for humans.

As I often note the Preamble to the Constitution includes "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare [italics added—cw], and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Providing up-to-date official government information rather creating environment based on speculative fear mongering or facilitating ignorance does not fit any definition of promoting the general Welfare that I can conjure up. Yet we are seemingly so scarred by the partisanship of COVID fights that we are pretending no national health issues could rise to the level of public reporting.

This is hard to square with addressing national needs. I am definitely not predicting some sort of global TB pandemic but am fascinated that the national media has virtually no mention of the problem. I also don’t have some secret knowledge that bird flu is worse than we are reporting but the increased global intercourse that concerns us ought not merely be military in nature. We need focus on health safety as an equal concern, one over which we as citizens might have a great deal of autonomy of action when they have information. I, for one, would rather be overarmed with access to the data rather than left in the dark to think the worst.

I welcome your thoughts, particularly those of you elsewhere than in the Beltway region. Perhaps your local media is covering this 24/7 so let us know. Are you concerned about it? Are we merely COVID exhausted so we will bounce back into appropriate actions when we have no option? Chime in, please.

Thank you for your time today—and any day you read Actions. I appreciate you gave up something else to read these ideas. I also thank the financial supporters who subscribe to the column as you make it possible to track the world so widely. Annual or monthly membership is greatly welcomed.

We have this crazy frozen line down Spa Creek, despite temperatures reaching into the 40s. It’s pretty but inexplicable so I share it with you.

Be well and be safe. FIN

Jen Baldauf, “Ohio leads nation in bird flu cases among commercial poultry operations”, DaytonDailyNews.com, 26 January 2025, retrieved at https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/ohio-leads-nation-in-bird-flu-cases-among-commercial-poultry-operations/6W6SJ3SYNFE3DB7D4HTEYPC33Y/

“Bird flu”, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 December 2024, retrieved at https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/about/index.html

Tom Howarth, “Kansas Tuberculosis Outbreak Becomes Largest in U.S. History”, Newsweek, 27 January 2025, retrieved at https://www.newsweek.com/tuberculosis-tb-outbreak-kansas-largest-ever-wyandotte-johnson-2021492

“Kansas Topographical Map”, retrieved at https://en-us.topographic-map.com/map-ngt/Kansas/

Stacy Rapacon, “The Cheapest Places to Retire in the United States”, Kiplinger.com, January 2025, retrieved at https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/cheapest-places-to-retire-in-the-us

Phoebe Weston, “Human case of avian flu detected in human as virus spreads among birds”, TheGuardian.com, 27 Janaury 2025, retrieved at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/27/human-case-h5n1-avian-bird-flu-england-virus-health-security-aoe