On April 11, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that more than 24 million poultry including chickens, turkeys, and other farm animals have fallen victim to avian flu in during this season. This number includes both animals affected by the virus and those culled due to the outbreak.
The CDC said the disease is currently present in 159 outbreaks, spread across 25 different states and 98 counties. Experts fear that the epidemic might still spread to other territories due to the discovery of birds wild also carriers of the virus. A total of 637 infected wild birds have been identified in 31 different states.
According to the information, the virus at the origin of the epidemic is the avian influenza H5N1, a virus known to be particularly pathogenic.
Is there a public health risk?
Along with the H7N9 virus, H5N1 is one of the most worrying subtypes of avian influenza. In humans, its mortality rate is particularly high, especially in young people.
Although H5N1 has claimed lives in previous outbreaks in other locations, no human cases have yet been reported this season in North America. According to the CDC, the risks to public health are quite low.
Earlier this year, a case was reported in the UK, but authorities managed to prevent the spread of the virus. So far, no human-to-human transmission has yet been proven.
However, to reduce the risk of contamination, the CDC recommends always thoroughly cooking poultry and eggs before consumption. You should also avoid touching wild birds and take the necessary precautions when handling pet birds that spend time outdoors.
Less dangerous than previous H5N1 viruses?
Since 2020, other parts of the world such as Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Canada are also facing the H5N1 virus. The latter became the predominant subtype of avian influenza worldwide from the fall of 2021. During epidemics in recent decades, a few cases of transmission to humans have been reported, but their numbers were relatively low. .
So far, it seems that the circulating H5N1 strain does not show enough dangerous mutations that might alert scientists. The CDC explained that so far, this season’s H5N1 viruses do not show the changes seen in the past that have been associated with viruses being able to transmit more easily between poultry, infect humans easily, and cause severe disease in them.
The H5N1 bird flu virus is among what scientists thought were likely candidates for a future pandemic. It is therefore not surprising that public health experts are concerned regarding the situation currently affecting the United States.
SOURCE: IFLScience
