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RFK's proposal to let bird flu spread through poultry (www.livescience.com)

submitted 6 days ago by rssbot@lemmy.bestiver.se to c/hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se

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[–] Earthling105b@midwest.social 10 points 4 days 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.

[–] purplemonkeymad@programming.dev 2 points 4 days 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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