--- title: It's Time to Start Taking Mpox and Bird Flu Seriously description: "In the U.S., ignorance is bliss, with public health leaders rolling the dice that this too shall pass," write Simar Bajaj and Robert Glatter. canonical: https://time.com/7012269/take-mpox-bird-flu-seriously-essay/ author: Simar Bajaj article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-08-19T19:00:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-30T11:03:18.909Z article:section: Ideas og:title: It's Time to Start Taking Mpox and Bird Flu Seriously og:description: "In the U.S., ignorance is bliss, with public health leaders rolling the dice that this too shall pass," write Simar Bajaj and Robert Glatter. og:url: https://time.com/7012269/take-mpox-bird-flu-seriously-essay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8acd38ccf5494587/698a5a0a457a521660d6aa79/mpox-outbreak-august-17.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: mpox-outbreak-august-17 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: It's Time to Start Taking Mpox and Bird Flu Seriously twitter:description: "In the U.S., ignorance is bliss, with public health leaders rolling the dice that this too shall pass," write Simar Bajaj and Robert Glatter. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8acd38ccf5494587/698a5a0a457a521660d6aa79/mpox-outbreak-august-17.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # It's Time to Start Taking Mpox and Bird Flu Seriously > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Simar Bajaj](https://time.com/author/simar-bajaj/) and [Robert Glatter](https://time.com/author/robert-glatter/) Aug 19, 2024 7:00 PM UTC  A health worker carries a tray at the mpox treatment center at Nyiragongo General Referral Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on August 17, 2024\. With around 16,000 cases recorded since the beginning of the year, the DRC is the focus and epicenter of the epidemic that led the World Health Organization (WHO) to trigger its highest level of alert at the international level on August 14. A health worker carries a tray at the mpox treatment center at Nyiragongo General Referral Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on August 17, 2024\. With around 16,000 cases recorded since the beginning of the year, the DRC is the focus and epicenter of the epidemic that led the World Health Organization (WHO) to trigger its highest level of alert at the international level on August 14. Guerchom Ndebo—AFP/Getty Images by [Simar Bajaj](https://time.com/author/simar-bajaj/) and [Robert Glatter](https://time.com/author/robert-glatter/) Aug 19, 2024 7:00 PM UTC It’s been a bad month for public health. On August 14, the World Health Organization declared mpox as an [international health emergency](https://www.who.int/news/item/14-08-2024-who-director-general-declares-mpox-outbreak-a-public-health-emergency-of-international-concern), given the [“unprecedented”](https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/111448) spread of a [new, more deadly variant](https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/111448). In the United States, bird flu, formally known as H5N1, has spread to [10 agricultural workers](https://www.cpr.org/2024/08/08/department-of-health-xavier-becerra-discusses-colorado-bird-flu-outbreak/) in Colorado, an alarming development since only [three other cases](https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html) have been reported this year. Mpox and bird flu are distinct infectious diseases; however, they have been united by assumptions that containment is easily achievable and thus a complacent public health response. Indeed, almost 100,000 people got infected with mpox after the 2022 outbreak, and while the disease shrunk away from public view, mpox continued to [spread](https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/mpox/response/2022/world-map.html) and evolve into deadlier variants. Similarly, while bird flu first jumped into mammals [around the](https://www.science.org/content/article/we-re-nervous-deadly-bird-flu-may-be-north-america-stay) [same time](https://www.science.org/content/article/incredibly-concerning-bird-flu-outbreak-spanish-mink-farm-triggers-pandemic-fears) in 2022, the response in the U.S. was anemic with little consistent messaging or concrete action. This is part of a larger inertia around infectious diseases—one we believe is driven by two key factors. First, public health leaders have grown overly cautious after the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing how bold efforts to contain the pandemic were met with anti-science aggression, populist outrage, relentless lawsuits, and at least 30 states [limiting public health powers](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/03/08/covid-public-health-backlash/). The impending U.S. elections have added to the polarization and disinformation. As such, instead of proactive action, we are seeing trepidation. Second, there is a sense that another pandemic cannot happen so soon after COVID-19—that these infectious diseases will inevitably burn themselves out like before. This is a “gambler’s fallacy,” and because of it, the U.S. may be underestimating the risks posed by mpox and bird flu, allowing two potential pandemics to brew on the global stage. This has manifested in several failures for both diseases. For instance, the U.S. saw [1800 mpox cases](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7320a4.htm) between October 2023 and April 2024, while the more dangerous Clade 1b variant, which combines [efficient sexual transmission with high mortality](https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/111448), started to spread in Africa. However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stopped updating their mpox outbreak case count [in January](https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/mpox/response/2022/index.html), downplaying this added threat since case counts were not yet increasing. The CDC restarted the public reporting in May, suggesting its discontinuation may have been overly expedient and optimistic. Our mpox global health response mirrors such underestimation and delayed action. On August 7, the U.S. announced that it was donating [50,000 vaccines](https://cd.usembassy.gov/the-united-states-announces-424-million-in-additional-assistance-for-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo/) to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, almost a year after Clade 1b was first reported there. For reference, Africa CDC estimates it needs [10 million doses](https://www.science.org/content/article/africa-poised-declare-continentwide-emergency-alarm-mpox-outbreak#:~:text=Africa%20CDC%20estimates%20the%20continent,the%20DRC%20with%20200%2C000%20doses.) to control the current outbreak on the continent. In 2022, the U.S. failed to tackle mpox while it was confined to Africa, dragging its feet until the disease was spreading uncontrollably at home; we are seeing history repeat itself in 2024. **_Read More:_** [_Health Experts are Watching a More Dangerous Version of Mpox_](https://time.com/6979046/mpox-outbreak-africa-vaccine/) For bird flu, the mortality rate can be [as high as 52%](https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2024-DON512), given WHO case data. But as the _New York Times_ [noted](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/18/us/coronavirus-public-health.html), “Only recently has the \[CDC\] begun to mobilize real funding for a testing push, after a period of months in which various federal groups batted around responsibility and ultimate authority like a hot potato.” In the U.S., ignorance is bliss, with our public health leaders rolling the dice that this too shall pass. So, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) detected bird flu in cattle [four months](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.01.591751v1.full.pdf) after it happened, or that the agency has not [required routine testing of cattle](https://fox40.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/733782647/considerations-for-starting-mass-production-of-h5n1-avian-flu-vaccines) (unless they cross state lines) nor [vaccination of farmworkers](https://www.statnews.com/2024/07/30/cdc-offers-farmworker-seasonal-flu-shots-latest-news-bird-flu-outbreak/). While decisions to leave these programs voluntary are multifactorial, they are likely influenced by political reticence after COVID-19 and [recent Supreme Court rulings](https://law.stanford.edu/2022/01/20/a-look-at-the-supreme-court-ruling-on-vaccination-mandates/) striking down vaccination requirements. To be clear, the pandemic risk of mpox or bird flu is currently low. The transmission dynamics of mpox, requiring [very close contact](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/monkeypox), make it more difficult to spread than SARS-CoV-2\. Similarly, cases of bird flu have thus far been mild and limited in number. However, these are not absolute truths, but day-by-day assessments, which require real preparedness—measured in testing, ongoing surveillance, and forward planning. We have no easy answers for overcoming public health paralysis. But at minimum, the U.S. needs better public health communication that not only emphasizes transparency but also holds our leaders accountable. Bringing [this COVID-19-era lesson](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/six-lessons-weve-learned-from-covid-that-will-help-us-fight-the-next-pandemic-180981371/) to mpox and bird flu is one way to give Americans a new, positive memory of public health, fostering early, decisive action and realistic risk assessments. With two rapidly evolving outbreaks, we cannot afford trepidation and false optimism. And, even as we work to make the U.S. safer, we cannot forget our global obligations to share vaccines, medicines, and resources. 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