Madison Area Lyme Support Group

A bird flu outbreak in a Wisconsin dairy cattle herd has fueled speculation that gain-of-function research at a nearby university lab — where scientists are working to develop a bird flu vaccine for cattle — may have played a role in the outbreak.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) identified what it said was the first known case of highly pathogenic bird flu in a Dodge County, Wisconsin, dairy cattle herd.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) characterized the outbreak as a new “spillover” event — from wildlife to cattle.

The two scientists who conducted the whole genome sequencing for APHIS and identified the virus responsible for the Dodge County outbreak work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, the university confirmed.

Those same scientists — Keith Poulsen, DVM, Ph.D., and Yoshihiro Kawaoka, DVM, Ph.D. — have also co-authored studies on gain-of-function research, including studies related to the H5N1 virus.

One of the scientists, Kawaoka, directs the university’s Influenza Research Institute, known to conduct gain-of-function research on H5N1. Kawaoka was director of the high-security lab in 2019, when it came under scrutiny for a safety breach.

The institute’s lab is about 40 miles from the bird flu outbreak in Dodge County.

Kawaoka is also the co-founder of flu vaccine manufacturer FluGen. And he is among a group of scientists working on the development of a bird flu vaccine for livestock.

Will Cushman, with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Office of Strategic Communication, confirmed that virologists Poulsen and Kawaoka are performing H5N1 research. However, he denied that it is gain-of-function research. (See link for article)

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H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b genotype D1.1 is responsible for the Dodge County outbreak. The D1.1 genotype contains characteristics that may increase the transmissibility of the virus, including to humans.  The D1.1 strain is linked to a 3 year old’s death in Mexico, according to the WHO.

In 2023 lawmakers proposed Assembly Bill 413 to shut down gain-of-function research at Wisconsin universities, but UW lobbied against it and defeated it in April, 2024.

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Although the following Bird flu simulation was done in early 2025, the study wasn’t submitted until July, wasn’t accepted until December, with an online publish date if Jan. 8, 2026 – just in time as bird flu fear porn is intensifying.

https://jonfleetwood.substack.com/p/portugal-runs-h5n1-bird-flu-outbreak?

Portugal Runs H5N1 Bird Flu Outbreak Simulation—Echoing Pre-COVID Pandemic Exercises

Patients refusing to use personal protective equipment, like masks, defined as “threats.”