The World Health Organization's chief scientist urged for increased monitoring and preparation for the virus on Thursday, describing the avian flu that is spreading through livestock in the United States as a "enormous concern."
The extremely dangerous H5N1 flu virus does not appear to be contagious at this time. Since it was discovered in birds in 1996, this particular strain of the flu has mostly threatened domestic and wild birds. However, throughout the last two years, more and more mammals have tested positive for the virus, suggesting that it is searching for new hosts and getting closer to humans.
Naturally, the biggest worry is that by infecting ducks, chickens, and soon more and more mammals, the virus may evolve and become capable of infecting people. Critically, however, is the capacity for human-to-human transmission, as British physician and chief scientist at WHO since 2023 Dr. Jeremy Farrar warned reporters on Thursday in Geneva.
"We need to stay vigilant, but even more than that, we need to ensure that we are prepared to act quickly and provide everyone with equitable access to vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics in the event that H5N1 were to infect humans through human-to-human transmission."
At a press conference, a question concerning the WHO's revised definition of airborne infections prompted Farrar to make his remarks.
Despite not being contagious, people can contract H5N1 through contact with sick animals. This year, one H5N1 positive test result has been reported from Texas in the US. It is thought that the individual who tested positive contracted the illness from an infected cow while dealing with cows.
They represent just the second known instance of H5N1 in humans in the US. The first occurred in 2022 in a Colorado poultry worker.
Despite the fact that HPV is not easily transmissible to people, the potentially fatal nature of these diseases worries experts. The WHO reports that since 2003, there have been 889 human cases and 463 deaths from 23 different countries. This means that the virus has a 52% case fatality rate.
"This virus is quite frightening. Dr. Richard Webby, a scientist at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital and the director of the WHO's coordinating center for studies on the ecology of influenza, told CNN that it is something he would hate to see in people.
Despite the fact that H5N1 has not yet figured out how to effectively infect humans, Webby, who has spent 20 years studying the virus, said that "what's happening now there are lots more small mammals being infected with this virus and we've ever seen in the past 20, close to 25 years of monitoring, so that is absolutely concerning."
According to Webby, H5N1 is more active than it has ever been, but it hasn't yet undergone significant modifications that scientists are concerned about since they could make it easier for it to infect humans.
Webby stated, "It does seem to me that this virus has quite a hurdle to overcome to become a real sort of human pathogen because we haven't seen those changes."
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services of the US Department of Agriculture has identified 29 affected herds in eight states so far: Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, South Dakota, Idaho, Michigan, Ohio, and North Carolina.
Although there is now little risk of H5N1 infection to the general public, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they are closely watching the situation. The CDC said in an update to its situation summary on Thursday that it is researching the virus that was identified from the most recent human case in the US and has discovered that it is treatable with antiviral drugs.
The organization added that it has produced a vaccine candidate virus that can serve as a model in the event that a vaccine is required.
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