California has declared a state of emergency for the spread of bird flu. Is this a Covid 2.0 scenario already?
Very nerve-wracking.
Flu epidemics/pandemics are rarely a huge deal (if you are healthy - if you are very elderly or unhealthy, the flu can be dangerous every year). In my lifetime there have been multiple flu scares like this (as well as other virus flare-ups in various parts of the world like Ebola, the original SARS in ~2003, etc.). The swine flu infected roughly a billion people in 2009, for example, but it wasn't a massive event like COVID. Most people have forgotten about it because it didn't impact their lives at all. Most "new" flus are either not too different than usual influenza, or they don't spread well if they are a novel species jump. Plus - we already have antivirals and rapid tests developed against flu. It's not a totally novel virus like COVID.
You shouldn't be stupid about it - don't spend time around wild birds or their habitats, or hanging out with other animals that are a vector (e.g., cows) or drinking raw milk (see: cows). But it's probably not going to end up being a huge thing. If you're worried, you can always wear a face mask in crowded public spaces/public transit/planes and wash your hands if you want to avoid any kind of flu. That still works to avoid infection.
