Will the Bird Flu Epidemic Lead to more Stimulus Checks in 2025?

During the coronavirus pandemic, US citizens faced economic hardships and instability, following which the US government issued several rounds of stimulus checks. While some people used this money to shore up their finances and keep a roof over their heads, many others pumped the money back into the economy, causing inflation across the country.

While many believe the pandemic days are behind them, a new bird flu pandemic could challenge that notion, causing further economic turmoil.

Why is this important?

During the coronavirus pandemic, Americans received three rounds of stimulus checks, providing direct assistance of up to $3,200 in total. Some Americans used it to stabilize their finances, while others pumped it back into the economy.

If the bird flu spreads on the same scale as COVID-19 did, Americans could receive another stimulus check.

What you need to know about bird flu

Although the public health risk of bird flu is currently low, the CDC has placed the virus on a watch list and is working closely with states whose populations may be at risk of exposure to the animals.

Bird flu is considered highly contagious, and humans can catch it through contact with bird saliva, mucus, and feces. Currently, there have been fewer than 100 cases of bird flu in the U.S., and the disease appears to be mild to moderate in severity.

If bird flu becomes a real threat and forces schools and businesses to close, as happened during COVID-19, economists believe we may be facing another stimulus check situation.

What are the experts saying?

Panagis Galiatsatos, assistant professor of medicine and oncology at Johns Hopkins and co-director of Medicine for the Greater Good, said, “Overall, we are keeping it under observation because the virus has not yet grown to the level where it can spread from person to person. Still, I think we are more prepared to prevent it from becoming a global crisis for three reasons: one, oseltamivir (Tamiflu) seems to be effective against it. Two, it is a flu virus, against which we have decades of vaccine knowledge, unlike the coronavirus that gave us COVID. And three, we have technology that allows us to make vaccines rapidly (mRNA technology).”

“Bird flu has happened before, and it didn’t disrupt U.S. operations. It’s possible that it will cause problems this time, but not on a massive scale of service disruption and high mortality as COVID-19 did. I’m a little hesitant about that, though, because we used that same logic for COVID-19 and we were proven wrong,” said Daniel Havlichek, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Human Medicine Infectious Diseases Division at Michigan State University.

What’s next?

While the CDC monitors bird flu and it has now spread to all 50 states, the threat of a pandemic to humans is still low. Experts say it’s unlikely to become a global threat because Tamiflu provides protection to humans, and humans have decades of vaccination knowledge against flu viruses, which they did not have against COVID-19.

But if such a pandemic were to occur and affect the US again on a large scale, stimulus payments from the U.S. government could be expected. “Unless something happens that replicates the scale of the pandemic we saw in 2020, it seems likely that stimulus checks will be on the way again,” said financial literacy coach Alex Bean.

Conclusion

Overall, while bird flu is a low-risk situation right now, its potential future threat cannot be ruled out. Although it seems unlikely to become a global crisis at this point, if it spreads like a pandemic, the possibility of another stimulus check for Americans may increase.

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