What am I thankful for?
I'm thankful that H5N1 hasn't yet mutated to become easily transmissible P2P.
Oh, wait. Maybe it already has and we just don't know it yet because we're hardly doing any monitoring in the U.S.
I'm not generally a superstitious person. But if another pandemic is imminent, 2025 would be the year for a perfect storm, with anti-vaxxer, conspiracy theorist RFK Jr. heading HHS; Great Barrington co-author and anti-public health hawk Jay Bhattacharya heading NIH; and anti-science TV quack Doc Oz heading medicare. And let's not forget, former Florida Representative Dave Weldon as admin for the CDC, Marty Makary as commissioner of FDA, and Fox News TV quack Janette Nesheiwat as surgeon general. All 3 are anti-science conspiracy nuts. Each has spread vaccine misinformation. All oppose gender-affirming care for transgender individuals.
If any of y'all are worried about H5N1, don't be. It's just like the flu.