Shortly after the U.S. presidential election, the CDC posted about symptoms of H5N1, or bird flu, prompting some social media users to speculate that the agency is indicating a bird flu pandemic is imminent. Several trending posts from pro-vaccine accounts claimed that the CDC “has rapidly” changed its messaging by warning about symptoms instead of emphasizing the relatively low human risk. A narrative has emerged online that this perceived change in messaging is a sign that the bird flu virus is spreading faster than the public is aware and that the CDC waited until people were “distracted” by the election to issue new warnings. There is no evidence to support these claims. One popular post falsely claimed that “the CDC quietly announced H5N1 has likely gone human-to-human transmission.” Meanwhile, reports of Canada’s first suspected human bird flu case stoked fears further, with some commenters pleading with the CDC director to stop “downplaying” bird flu before an “anti-science/anti-health” administration takes over.
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