Former CDC Head Sounds Alarm on Bird Flu Pandemic

(NewsWorthy.news) – Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has stated that it is only a matter of time until a bird flu pandemic occurs and results in “significant mortality” in humans. Redfield, a virologist who was appointed in 2018 by former President Donald Trump to lead the CDC, discussed his and other experts’ concerns about the virus.

Redfield estimated the projected mortality in humans to be between 25% and 50% and said it would be “quite complicated”. The virologist claimed cases of influenza had been increasing in ducks, chickens and turkeys in the US since 2017. The largest producer of fresh eggs in the US, Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., had to temporarily cease production at its plant in Texas after bird flu was found in chickens in April.

The company announced in a statement that approximately 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets had to be culled at its Parmer County facility after the infection was discovered. The CDC reported that the virus has spread to dozens of cattle across the US. According to the World Health Organization, the first human to die from the virus was a 59-year-old Mexican male.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the US, the United Kingdom and the European Union adopted a harsh response to the spread of bird flu in 2021. A December 2022 report found that hundreds of millions of dollars had been spent over the last year on culling over 140 million birds globally. The continual culling was branded morally wrong by some experts. The World Organisation for Animal Health estimated that just over 53 million birds were culled in the US alone, and that another 48 million were culled in the UK and the EU combined.

In May 2024 Trump vowed to disband the pandemic preparedness office. The announcement prompted criticism from President Joe Biden’s campaign, which quickly claimed that Trump’s “failed” response to the COVID-19 pandemic was the reason for the OPPR’s creation in the first place.

As he ramped up his attacks on Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in May, Trump claimed that Kennedy’s criticism of vaccines was “fake”, calling him a “radical left” plant. Known for his criticism of pharmaceutical giants, Kennedy claimed in a post on X in June that shipments of a H5N8 Bird Flu vaccine were being sent to Europe to treat a disease that “does not yet exist.”