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Bird flu/ How endangered are we by a new pandemic?

2024-04-11 15:37:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Bird flu/ How endangered are we by a new pandemic?

Scientists around the world are monitoring the spread of bird flu in mammals, keeping a watchful eye for possible widespread transmission to humans. The risk of human cases from bird flu—an infection with pandemic potential—is still considered low, according to experts.

However, spread to mammals is a concern as they are evolutionarily closer to humans, making it easier for the virus to adapt to infect humans.

Concern among bird flu experts has been revived in recent weeks, with one human case in the US and the spread of a strain of the virus to livestock on farms in at least six states.

These infections represent the first widespread outbreak of bird flu in cows, prompting experts to closely monitor the disease. The outbreak is worrisome because people are often in contact with livestock on farms, giving the virus a chance to spread.

More specifically, over the past two weeks, health officials have detected the H5N1 virus in cows from 16 herds in six states. The number is likely to rise as surveillance in the US increases.

Until now, researchers had documented sporadic infections of cows with avian flu viruses, but no widespread outbreaks had been identified.

In fact, one case was reported in a dairy worker in Texas, who is recovering — the second case in a person in the US. The worker's main symptom was, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), eye inflammation.

The virus level was found to be low. The worker variant has a mutation associated with more efficient propagation in mammals. This is a mutation that has appeared many times, including in foxes and cats infected with H5N1./ CNA





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