Health officials are worried about what might happen if people are infected with bird flu and seasonal flu at the same time. It’s possible the viruses could swap gene segments, in a process that scientists call reassortment.

  • lnxtx@feddit.nl
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    3 months ago

    Flu shots won’t be mandatory.

    Idk, should mass animal farms be limited by density?

    • McKee@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Let’s stop “farming” animals. I suggest converting these barns to mushroom farming, I can never have enough mushrooms.

      • Tiefling IRL@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        3 months ago

        I do dream of the day I can buy more than mini bellas and white buttons at the store. Give me a nice big chunk of lionsmane or a bag of chestnuts

        • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          So… You just want more than 1 option at the store?

          White button, baby bella/cremini, and portabello mushrooms are all the same mushroom, just at different maturity.

          • Drusas@kbin.run
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            3 months ago

            Yes, but they taste different. If I’m at a store that only offers fresh shiitake and dried shiitake, that’s still two different types of mushroom they have on offer.

        • Kanzar@sh.itjust.works
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          3 months ago

          Lions Mane doesn’t ship very well for commercial purposes. You might find it at markets… But you’re best off growing it yourself.

    • Fermion@feddit.nl
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      3 months ago

      I don’t think limiting density would control bird flu specifically considering that wild bird populations are high enough density to spread this disease.

      I do generally support lower density farming though. Anecdotally, the white blood cell count of dairy cows on pasture is way lower than when they are in barns during the winter. And even the winter white blood cell counts on the small organic dairy farm I worked on was an order of magnitude lower than what is considered normal for conventional dairy.

      White blood cell counts in milk are used as a proxy to monitor for infections. It’s impractical to test for every pathogen, but looking for the immune response of the cow works reasonably well.