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RFK's proposal to let bird flu spread through poultry (www.livescience.com)
submitted 1 year ago by [B] to c/hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se
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[–] 11 points 1 year ago (5 children)

7th grade science test question: What would evolve faster, a virus that can create millions of new copies every day, or a chicken.

Apparently RFK jr thinks the chickens will evolve immunity faster than the virus can evolve to jump to humans.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Or doesn't realize that evolutionary pressure tends to kill the shit oudda anything that ain't up to snuff...bye bye poultry industry. Likely doesn't care tho. Seems like a steak every night kinda guy.

    Imagine if it were a Prion problem instead. Think he'd be like FEED THE COWS MORE COW! THEY'LL TOUGH IT OUT!

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    I think it's less that they evolve and more that we just select the already resistant chickens.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    Yeah, but it could take several generations of chickens until “resistant” evolves into being immune enough to not lose half the flock every time. And in the mean time since human farmers will have to be tending to the chickens in some way, there always a risk of the virus jumping to humans.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    If the pressure is right, the virus should evolve to be less lethal. If the virus kills its host before infecting a new host, then that evolution is not advantageous. This is why low contact was a good tactic for COVID. Only the strains that were less lethal would continue and out complete the ones that kill people.

    Unfortunately I doubt that he would mandate a good management of this. In a environment like barn chickens live in, the virus can transmit so regularly that the lethality is not a pressure for it.

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