Letters to the Editor: L.A. Times’ coverage of the bird flu is a great public service

To the editor: Thanks to The Times’ editorial staff for publishing Dr. Peter Chin-Hong’s Dec. 20 opinion piece, “Bird flu is coming for humans. We can either get ready or court disaster.”

Thanks also to The Times for its excellent coverage of the spread of H5N1 across our state and nation. It is a great public service.

As a physician who cared for patients, families and co-workers during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I deeply appreciate Chin-Hong’s wise call for increased public awareness and scientifically sound steps to prevent or mitigate a serious outbreak or pandemic of a newly emerging bird flu.

The Times, our elected representatives and our medical and public health leadership will need to deal effectively with the challenges posed in the COVID-19 pandemic, including public apathy, anti-science sentiment and political bias.

Dr. Brian Johnston, Culver City

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To the editor: Another option to limit the spread of the H5N1 flu is for people to stop drinking the milk of another animal. How did we buy into the notion that we have to consume cows’ milk to survive?

Alison M. Grimes, Yorba Linda