The Informant

Taking effect July 2022, the US Suicide Prevention Hotline will change from 800-273-8255 to the three digit code of 988. Especially with families and communities reeling from back to back tragedies, it is super important to share this information!

It’s July 16, not just the start of July.

988 can not only be used as the suicide hotline, but for any sort of mental health or substance use crisis situation. As opposed to 911, the goal of 988 is that when dispatch is necessary, you’ll be met with a trained crisis response team rather than the police. The police will only be involved if there is an immediate threat to safety, which has almost never occurred in pilot programs - in one of the most well-known, Denver STAR, (which a lot of y’all seem to be familiar with) the police has actually never been called for backup. We’re hoping that this is going to get more individuals directed towards help rather than a prison cell. 

"Nobody could tell me. They just said it's a tragedy. But it was a tragedy that didn't sit well with my scientific brain.”

Since then, she’s worked to find the cause of SIDS, both for herself and for the medical community as a whole. She went on to explain why this discovery is so important for parents whose babies suffered from SIDS.

Original thread:

https://mobile.twitter.com/DianaMiller5/status/1522278413096132609?cxt=HHwWgoC53deJnKAqAAAA

Use the medications properly to prevent interactions with healthcare providers. The pills are very effective, but they have to be used right. Carefully follow the instructions provided on the How to Use Abortion Pill website. Note that misoprostol tablets should always be taken by dissolving them under the tongue. Do NOT insert misoprostol vaginally if you are self-managing an abortion. While this is medically safe, it can leave incriminating pill remnants that can be detected in the vagina during a pelvic exam if you end up needing to seek medical care. 

If it’s not an emergency but you need expert health advice, use a free calling service like Google Voice to call or text the Miscarriage + Abortion Hotline at 1-833-246-2632. Medical complications are very uncommon with abortion pills, but they’re not impossible. The M+A Hotline is safe to use and is staffed by trustworthy clinicians who volunteer their time to help those who choose SMA. Do not use your own phone number to call as this will create a record that is visible to your cell service provider. 

Don’t disclose any information about SMA to emergency room staff if you do need to seek medical care. This is how most people who are arrested for SMA are reported. Healthcare providers are almost always who calls the police in cases of SMA criminalization. Contrary to popular belief, HIPAA does not protect your private health information from being shared with police if you are suspected of doing something that could be considered a crime. If you believe you need to seek urgent medical care, do not hesitate to go. Say “I think I’m having a miscarriage” and provide your symptoms. Do not mention any use of or purchase of abortion pills. There is no widely available test to detect misoprostol in your bloodstream. If you do not disclose it, there is no way for a medical provider to tell the difference between a medication abortion and a spontaneous miscarriage.

that document, while not yet set into law, shows that the supreme court voted to overturn all federal laws protecting the right to abortion in the united states of america.

these prior rulings, roe and casey were decided on the basis that the surveillance of abortion as a medical procedure violated the fourth amendment of the united states constitution, which protects our right to privacy.

this decision will impact more than just abortion.

it will impact gender-affirming care, the drugs you’re prescribed, the surgeries and procedures you undergo.

if you’re marginalized, i’m so sorry, we basically just lost hipaa protections for us.

if this doesn’t directly impact you, donate to planned parenthood, to the trans lifeline, to your local abortion funds and mutual aid funds. protect our privacy.

go get em now if you might need em: https://odinsblog.tumblr.com/post/670771498004480000/finally-some-good-news

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/abortion/the-abortion-pill/how-do-i-get-the-abortion-pill

"Safe Abortion for All.

No Compromise - No Apology"

Cudjo Lewis, the last surviving captive of the last slave ship to bring Africans to the U.S. 

Basics

Confirmed cases of HPAI (2022)

What to do if you suspect your flock has HPAI + Signs and Symptoms 

Resources from the USDA

Info from the CDC (Can humans get it?)

Biosecurity

USDA 

Chicken chick 

Tarp recommendations for runs - Tarps stop poop from raining down on your birds - This article mostly focuses on winterizing and weather, however.

Protecting Captive Wild Birds From HPAI (for zoos and rehabs)

Rodents- Rodents can spread this virus too - Please don’t use poison, glue, or drowning, check laws regarding releasing wild animals for your area

Hardware cloth skirt example - Stops digging animals

Rodent prevention (note: barn cats are largely ineffective and detrimental to native wildlife)

More rodent prevention/control

Repeater live mouse trap

Repeater rat trap

Kill traps: rat, mouse

DIY repeater trap

Boredom Busters

Chicken treat ball - Chewy

Fruit and veggie hanger - Amazon - After reading reviews I went with this one because some others had injured hens

Omlet chicken swing  - Pricy but popular

DIY chicken swing

DIY boredom busters (note: I don’t recommend straw, it can cause impaction. Also the free ranging idea obviously doesn’t apply but the rest are good)

Flock blocks: Purina, Kalmbach  (use something to keep them from touching the ground)

Wyze Cam v3 - not so much a boredom buster for your flock but allows you to see and hear your flock! A boredom buster for humans perhaps

PLEASE bring in your bird feeders for the next few months to discourage birds from gathering together.

Even if you don't have outdoor birds like me, you can help protect flock birds in your area by removing feeders and bird baths etc from your yard. This will help to slow the spread to flocks like mine.

If you are in the USA and have flock birds

Bring them in if you can. If you only have a couple, set them up indoors if you can. If you're like me and you can't, do your best to move food and water sources into the coops where wild birds won't see them. You can buy bird prevention netting to wrap your run in, and tarp the top of it to prevent falling excrement from reaching your birds as wild birds pass overhead.

It should go without saying, but I'm gonna say it. You should also avoid going to places where others have birds (like auctions, swap meets, visiting farms or friends that have them), or allowing anyone that's been where there are birds to visit your property. If you must have visitors, a 10% bleach solution in a tub for them to step in is the bare minimum of biosecurity so they don't track it in on their shoes.

There are tests for Avian Influenza, which can be done without killing the birds. If you are concerned your birds may be showing symptoms of AI (sudden deaths, decrease in egg production, decrease in water intake, or other illness symptoms), you should contact your state agricultural department (in Michigan, MSU ag department and MDARD handles this kind of stuff, not sure for other states) and inquire about what steps to take to have testing done. They will be able to advise you on what to do.

New cases and the major culls that follow in their wake, are being reported daily, and this is still just starting. Migratory season doesn't end until the middle-end of May. April has barely started. The total death toll so far is upwards of 15 million birds, and that's going to continue to go up.

Please, please, please. Protect your birds, protect the birds around you. I am begging you to bring your birds in if you can; they will not like it but at least they will be alive to not like it. I posted this originally when I thought we wouldn't be able to coop everyone, but I have made sacrifices in order to do so since, because this is getting very bad.

Stay safe. My thoughts are with everyone's feathered kids.

This is the map as of today, 6 April 2022:

I also want to tack this information on to this main post:

HPAI is transmissible to cats and dogs!

Studies done in 2015/16 and since have found that cats and dogs can pick up this virus from infected meat (as in when they eat wild birds they have caught) as well as through respiratory transmission. Cats and dogs are not generally susceptible to LPAI, the normal strain in north america, but both were found to be susceptible to HPAI.

So, in addition to removing bird feeders and keeping any pet birds on lockdown as much as possible, folks with cats and dogs need to be aware of the dangers to their animals as well. Cat owners should keep their cats indoors or allow them out in covered catios only (you'll have to read up and decide if leash time is safe, I haven't looked into it) until migratory season ends. Folks with dogs should not allow dogs off-leash outdoors where they might be able to catch birds or touch bird carcasses. While HPAI mainly causes death in waterfowl and land fowl, songbirds are a reservoir species and can transmit it to mammals interacting with them or their carcasses or feces.