Avian flu, fear rises for a possible epidemic. “Large-scale vaccines”, the emergency plan –

Once once more a virus scares the whole world. «There is confirmation of the transmission» of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus «between cattle and cattle and from cattle to poultry», according to what emerges «from the viral sequencing». «Cases of asymptomatic dairy cattle are also confirmed», but «with H5N1 infection», although «the extent of the tests is unclear». The American scientist Eric Topol, executive vice president of Scripps Research, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, takes stock of the situation in an analysis of the results of the closed-door summit organized in recent days by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). , by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to investigate the avian emergency in dairy cows in the United States.

Overseas, fears regarding the spread of the avian pathogen in farms are growing, so much so that work is already underway on a “preparation plan in case human transmission” of the virus occurs, which has never been confirmed until now. Federal officials, reports Topol, “explained that Tamiflu*”, the antiviral drug oseltamivir, “would be effective” to combat the infection in humans “and that supplies have been accumulated”. Furthermore, “if necessary, the US might divert the annual production of influenza vaccines to produce anti-H5N1 vaccines on a large scale.” There are currently “2 candidate vaccines available once morest H5N1 that agree well with the current sequence” of the virus, and by exploiting mRNA technology “there is the possibility of increasing the supply of vaccine” in case of need. Today “it seems very unlikely” that we will have to get to this point, that is, having to face an avian epidemic in humans, “but the more the H5N1 virus spreads uncontrolled – the experts warn – the greater the reservoirs” in which it can proliferate «and the possibility of further functional mutations occurring. So it’s better to plan for the worst case scenario.”

At the moment the only human case of highly pathogenic H5N1 infection documented in the context of the epidemic among cattle is that of a worker in the dairy sector, who in Texas became infected through direct contact with animals and presented the only symptom is conjunctivitis. To contain the further spread of the epidemic, a federal order was issued requiring testing and reporting of infected animals. As for the routine tests on pigs, ‘special observation’ because they might represent a bridge for the virus to humans, “so far they have been negative”. The attention is maximum.