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WHO: Avian flu risk for humans is increasing
from
DPA
Wednesday
March 29, 2023
10:24 a.m
"There is no reason to panic," said Sylvie Briand, director of the WHO department for preparing for infection risks, on Wednesday in Geneva. "But we have to check how well we are prepared."
Bird flu is currently rampant to an unprecedented extent: there is evidence on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Tens of millions of animals have already died, particularly seabirds. The virus has also been detected in around 30 species of mammals. It has infected and killed mink, foxes, raccoons, martens, bears and other animals. The virus was also detected in a porpoise in the Baltic Sea last summer, as Timm Harder from the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) near Greifswald says.
"Not only does the virus spread, it also crosses species barriers more easily," said Briand. "It also poses a higher risk for humans." The more a virus spreads, the higher the risk that it will change and become more dangerous for humans.
A total of 873 cases have been reported to the WHO since the first fatal human cases of H5N1 in Hong Kong in 1997. 458 of those infected died, said Dutch virologist Ron Fouchier. However, he warned against deducing that the virus often leads to death in humans. Because infections with no or mild symptoms are usually not reported and therefore not counted in the calculation.
"A pandemic may not be right around the corner, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to review contingency plans," he said. According to the FLI, only one human death has been recorded for the currently circulating H5N1 development line 2.3.4.4b: In October, a 38-year-old Chinese woman died after contact with infected domestic poultry.
Preparatory work for a vaccine for potential mass vaccinations was underway, said Richard Webby of St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis in the USA. But without knowing the exact species that can reproduce in humans, it is only possible to make the first building blocks for vaccines.....
Mareike Petersen from the ProVieh association demands that animal husbandry urgently needs to be changed to smaller groups. This reduces the spread of diseases and allows the animals to express their species-specific behavior: free running, fluttering and undisturbed resting. FLI expert Harder also considers the importance of poultry farming to be central. There are the largest interfaces with humans and the risk that the virus will jump directly to humans.
"We must not let up in our activities to keep track of the virus and, above all, to keep infections out of attitudes - small or large," he told the dpa. He heads the National Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza at the FLI....
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the spread of bird flu increases the risk of it spreading among humans.
https://www.sn.at/panorama/wissen/wh...chst-136325527
from
DPA
Wednesday
March 29, 2023
10:24 a.m
"There is no reason to panic," said Sylvie Briand, director of the WHO department for preparing for infection risks, on Wednesday in Geneva. "But we have to check how well we are prepared."
Bird flu is currently rampant to an unprecedented extent: there is evidence on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Tens of millions of animals have already died, particularly seabirds. The virus has also been detected in around 30 species of mammals. It has infected and killed mink, foxes, raccoons, martens, bears and other animals. The virus was also detected in a porpoise in the Baltic Sea last summer, as Timm Harder from the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) near Greifswald says.
"Not only does the virus spread, it also crosses species barriers more easily," said Briand. "It also poses a higher risk for humans." The more a virus spreads, the higher the risk that it will change and become more dangerous for humans.
A total of 873 cases have been reported to the WHO since the first fatal human cases of H5N1 in Hong Kong in 1997. 458 of those infected died, said Dutch virologist Ron Fouchier. However, he warned against deducing that the virus often leads to death in humans. Because infections with no or mild symptoms are usually not reported and therefore not counted in the calculation.
"A pandemic may not be right around the corner, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to review contingency plans," he said. According to the FLI, only one human death has been recorded for the currently circulating H5N1 development line 2.3.4.4b: In October, a 38-year-old Chinese woman died after contact with infected domestic poultry.
Preparatory work for a vaccine for potential mass vaccinations was underway, said Richard Webby of St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis in the USA. But without knowing the exact species that can reproduce in humans, it is only possible to make the first building blocks for vaccines.....
Mareike Petersen from the ProVieh association demands that animal husbandry urgently needs to be changed to smaller groups. This reduces the spread of diseases and allows the animals to express their species-specific behavior: free running, fluttering and undisturbed resting. FLI expert Harder also considers the importance of poultry farming to be central. There are the largest interfaces with humans and the risk that the virus will jump directly to humans.
"We must not let up in our activities to keep track of the virus and, above all, to keep infections out of attitudes - small or large," he told the dpa. He heads the National Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza at the FLI....
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the spread of bird flu increases the risk of it spreading among humans.
https://www.sn.at/panorama/wissen/wh...chst-136325527
