"Pestilences And Earthquakes"
by Michael Snyder
"We are living in an era of endless disasters. Over the past several years, we have been hit with one thing after another, and the pace of events seems to have picked up steam in 2024. Just think of all the things we have seen in recent days. There was the historic terror attack in Russia, then the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed, and then Israel’s strike on a building right next to Iran’s embassy in Damascus threatened to spark a major regional war. Less than 24 hours ago, a catastrophic earthquake hit Taiwan, but that is already starting to fade from the news cycle because so much else is happening right now. In this article, I want to focus on two things: pestilences and earthquakes.
The bird flu plague has already killed millions upon millions of birds all over the planet, but now it has made a major resurgence in the United States. In fact, the largest egg producer in the U.S. is “temporarily” closing a facility in Texas due to a local outbreak…"The largest producer of fresh eggs in the United States says it has temporarily closed one of its facilities in Texas after highly pathogenic avian influenza, otherwise known as H5N1 bird flu, wiped out nearly two million birds. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. said one of its facilities in Parmer County “tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, resulting in depopulation of approximately 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, or approximately 3.6% of the Company’s total flock as of March 2, 2024.”
Just like that, nearly two million more birds are gone. Egg prices have already been spiking, and we are being warned that they will soon go up even more…"Egg prices have now been steadily rising for months, and your omelette could become even more expensive as poultry farms around the country deal with an outbreak of bird flu. The average price of a dozen Grade A large eggs was $3 in February, according to the latest Consumer Price Index, up from around $2 in the fall."
Alarmingly, this time around it isn’t just birds that are catching the disease. The USDA is telling us that dairy cows in several U.S. states have been recently infected…"Bird flu has been confirmed in dairy cows across several states, with the USDA saying Monday it has been found in New Mexico and five additional herds in Texas."
In addition, we have learned that “three pet cats” in Texas have died after catching the bird flu…"Meanwhile, three pet cats have died from bird flu after catching the disease on dairy farms in Texas, according to reports - as fears are raised that infected animals living near humans could spread the disease to people."
Mammals all over the globe have started to get infected, but up until now the bird flu has not posed a serious threat to humans. Is that about to change? A dairy worker in Texas has tested positive for H5N1, and that represents only the second case ever recorded in the United States…"A Texas dairy worker has tested positive for the avian flu, marking the first identified human case of an illness in the U.S. that has sickened cattle across several states over the past few weeks. The infection, only the second human case of H5N1 ever recorded in the country, is worrying public health experts who for decades have cautioned that avian flu could pose a serious threat."
Hopefully this will turn out to be just an isolated incident. But the CDC is telling us that testing has shown that H5N1 has mutated into a form that could potentially spread more easily among people…"The strain of bird flu that infected a person in Texas has mutated to spread more easily, officials say - amid growing alarm the disease could spread to more people. The CDC said tests on the H5N1 sample showed it had a mutation that was ‘known to be associated with viral adaptation to mammalian hosts’ – but insisted the mutations were minor and the overall risk to the public was low."
This is a bombshell. If H5N1 starts spreading from person to person on a widespread basis, that will be far more serious than anything that we have experienced over the last several years. I hope that you understand what I am saying.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases of dengue fever in Brazil already exceeds 1.5 million…"An unprecedented outbreak of dengue fever is surging across Brazil, as the nation battles an epidemic that is straining resources and spreading well beyond the areas traditionally affected. In cities across the vast country, hospitals and doctors are being stretched to the limit as more than 1.5 million people have already caught the virus – also known as “breakbone fever” – this year." Dengue fever is an issue in Brazil every year, but they have never seen anything even close to this.
Now let me switch gears and talk about earthquakes for a bit. Less than 24 hours ago, we witnessed the worst earthquake in Taiwan in 25 years…"Taiwan was struck by its strongest earthquake in 25 years on Wednesday when a 7.4 magnitude tremor struck the island’s eastern coast, collapsing buildings, killing at least four people and triggering tsunami warnings across the region that were later lifted, CNN reported.
The tsunami warnings also prompted airlines and airports to suspend flights, which were later resumed. CNN reported that the powerful tremors that rocked Taiwan morning have damaged 125 buildings across the island, according to the National Fire Agency (NFA). That quake was later downgraded to 7.2, but it sure shook a lot of people up.
At one point, a building that is 10 stories high started to fall over as those in the streets nearby ran for cover…"A group of terrified Taiwanese citizens looked to be heading to an early grave as a huge earthquake sent a 10-story building hurtling towards them – only for the structure to grind to a halt at a near-45-degree angle. Shocking footage captured by security cameras showed the moment the red brick building shook violently and began to fall, spraying dust and debris into the street below as the people below sprinted for safety or dove into their cars for protection."
This is yet another example of how unstable our planet is becoming. In recent months we have seen so much unusual seismic activity all over the globe, but most Americans haven’t been too concerned about this because it hasn’t really affected us too much. But there has been unusual shaking here in the U.S. too.
For instance, earlier this year there was a swarm of more than 270 earthquakes near Reno, Nevada…"Residents of the south Reno area have likely noticed a few earthquakes in the last couple weeks. The Nevada Seismological Laboratory (NSL), a unit within the University of Nevada, Reno, has identified and located over 270 small magnitude earthquakes in the last 30 days so far. The largest related quake to date has been a magnitude 3.5 in the afternoon of Jan. 28 that was felt and heard through much of Reno.
Groups of small- to moderate-sized earthquakes, such as those recently occurring in south Reno, are often called a “swarm.” “We have termed this swarm the South Reno Swarm,” Kyren Bogolub, a network seismologist with the NSL, said."
Do you know what else is south of Reno, Nevada? A volcanic field known as “Steamboat Springs” is located in the area, but it has been quiet for a very long time. The following information comes from Wikipedia…"Steamboat Springs is a small volcanic field of rhyolitic lava domes and flows in western Nevada, located south of Reno. There is extensive geothermal activity in the area, including numerous hot springs, steam vents, and fumaroles." Is that volcanic field starting to wake up? Let’s hope not. But as seismic activity increases all over the globe, it is inevitable that the U.S. will experience great shaking as well.
In addition to natural disasters, our world is being troubled by wars, pestilences, famines, economic problems and political turmoil. A period of great chaos has arrived, and I am entirely convinced that the pace of events will accelerate even more during the months ahead."