RISK OF BIRD FLU SPREADING TO HUMANS IS ENORMOUS: WHO
The World Health Organization has raised significant concerns about the spread of H5N1 bird flu - to humans, who face an "extraordinarily high" mortality rate.
"This remains I think an enormous concern," the UN health agency's chief scientist Jeremy Farrar told reporters in Geneva.
An outbreak that began in 2020 has led to the deaths or killing of tens of millions of poultry. Most recently, the spread of the virus within several mammal species, including in domestic cattle in the US, has increased the risk of spillover to humans, the WHO said.
Related News |Even though earlier scientists thought cows and goats were not susceptible to this type of influenza earlier, cattle have now also become potential targets of the disease. Also, in the US earlier this month, a man from Texas was recovering from bird flu after being exposed to dairy cattle, with 16 herds across six states infected apparently after exposure to wild birds.
What do the scientists say?
According to the scientists, the A (H5N1) strain is now a "global zoonotic animal pandemic, which is infecting ducks and chickens and then increasingly mammals, that virus now evolves and develops the ability to infect humans and then critically the ability to go from human to human," Farrar said. Related News |However, so far there has been no evidence that the influenza A(H5N1) virus is spreading among humans. But in the hundreds of cases where humans have been infected through contact with animals over the past 20 years, “the mortality rate is extraordinarily high”.
Farrar said humans have no natural immunity to the virus.
From 2003 to 2024, 889 cases and 463 deaths caused by H5N1 have been reported worldwide from 23 countries, according to the WHO, putting the case fatality rate at 52 per cent.
What is bird flu?
Also known as avian influenza, bird flu is a viral infection that can infect not only birds but also humans and other animals. Most forms of the virus are restricted to birds.H5N1 is the most common form of bird flu, deadly to birds, and can easily affect humans and other animals that encounter a carrier. The WHO says H5N1 was first discovered in humans in 1997 and has killed nearly 60 per cent of those infected.
Signs and symptoms
A few signs and symptoms of H5N1 infection, which are typically flu-like, include:- Cough
- Diarrhea
- Respiratory difficulties
- Fever
- Headache
- Muscle aches
- Malaise
- Runny nose
- Sore throat
Risk factors for bird flu
According to experts, H5N1 survives for extended periods of time. Birds infected with H5N1 release the virus in feces and saliva for as long as 10-15 days.Touching contaminated surfaces can spread the infection. You may have a greater risk of contracting H5N1 if you are:
- A poultry farmer
- A traveler visiting affected areas
- Exposed to infected birds
- Someone who eats undercooked poultry or eggs
- A healthcare worker caring for infected patients
- A household member of an infected person