Geneva: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed concerns over the rapid spread of H5N1 bird flu, which holds a remarkably high mortality rate in humans. A bird flu virus, also called avian influenza (bird flu), causes the disease.
The explosion that began in 2020, resulted in the fatalities or culling of tens of millions of poultry. Recently, there were reports of the virus spreading among several mammal species, including domestic cattle in the United States.
According to the WHO, this raises the risk of the virus spilling over to humans. Last month, cows and goats were added to the list of species impacted by influenza, which was a wonder to specialists as they were not previously assumed to be susceptible to this sort of virus.
Authorities in the United States briefed that this month a person in Texas is healing from bird flu after being exposed to dairy cattle. It was also reported that 16 herds across six states are contaminated, ostensibly after disclosure to wild birds.
Jeremy Farrar, UN health agency’s chief scientist, stated that, “The A(H5N1) variant has become a global zoonotic animal pandemic. The great concern of course is that in 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 noted that there is currently no evidence to suggest that H5N1 is spreading between humans. However, in the last 20 years, hundreds of cases of infection were reported in humans who come into contact with animals.
The mortality rate among these cases is extremely high due to the lack of natural immunity humans have to the virus. According to the World Health Organisation, from 2003 to 2024, 889 cases of H5N1 were reported in 23 countries, resulting in 463 deaths. This puts the case fatality rate at 52 percent.
A recent US case of human infection from an infected mammal emphasises the raised risk of viruses adapting to new hosts. As per Farrar’s statements, advanced monitoring is required to resolve the number of human infections and understand virus adaptation. If infected with H5N1, Farrar says it would be tragic to spread it to others and start the cycle.
Farar further added to his statement that the evolution of vaccines and therapeutics for H5N1 is presently underway, and it is vital to confirm that regional and national health administrations around the world can interpret the virus.
This is being done to prepare for the chance of H5N1 circulating to humans, with human-to-human transmission. Farrar emphasised the need for equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics so that the world would be in a position to respond instantly if such an outbreak were to occur.
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