Amidst the escalating spread of avian influenza, commonly referred to as bird flu, within the US dairy cow and poultry populations, influential discussions have soared on social media platform “X.” These conversations revolve around the pressing issues of transparency and safety amid the H5N1 outbreak in cattle, with potential implications for the milk industry. Since late March, the influencers have emphasized the crucial importance of informed decision-making and proactive measures to safeguard consumers nationwide, reveals the Social Media Analytics Platform of GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Shreyasee Majumder, Social Media Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Influencers are pushing for greater transparency from the government concerning the H5N1 bird flu outbreak, stressing the need for clear data and warning against serving unpasteurized milk to children. Despite the FDA identifying the virus in pasteurized milk, doubts persist about its elimination. Influencers are urging the US authorities to publicize the health risks and endorse pasteurization as a safeguard. Additionally, they highlight the challenges like uncooperative farmers and skeptical workers, which complicate the data collection and response efforts, exacerbating the need for immediate and transparent communication from the USDA about the escalating number of cases.”

Below are a few popular influencer opinions captured by GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform:

1. Celine Gounder, Senior Fellow & Editor-at-Large for Public Health KFF Health News:

“11/ Why has it been so hard for government agencies to give us a more complete picture of this outbreak? Some farmers haven’t been very cooperative with USDA & public health officials coming onto the farms to test their animals & workers. Some of the workers are mistrustful of government officials & aren’t coming forward for testing.”

2. Eric Feigl-Ding, Epidemiologist and Health Economist:

“Let this sink in—a world leading virologist @RickABright who has studied H5N1 bird flu says he is pausing all his milk consumption until he sees proof from both FDA & USDA that pasteurized milk is safe to drink. Pausing milk because of his concern over lack of transparent data.”

3. Annie Sparrow, Associate Professor of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai:

“Evidence suggests that pasteurization kills the virus that spreads bird flu, but what about the parents who serve their children unpasteurized milk. Shouldn’t U.S. authorities warn against the risks involved?”

4. Helen Branswell, Senior Writer at Stat News:

   “New twist in the #H5N1 #birdflu in cows reporting saga. @USDA has upped the number of reported outbreaks to 36 in 9 states. The 2 newly reported outbreaks occurred in NM & were apparently confirmed on or before April 17, but only posted publicly today. What’s up with that?”