“Let’s not be caught unprepared.” Pandemic nightmare –

Mexico has reported “the primary laboratory-confirmed human case globally” of avian influenza A/H5N2 virus. It is a 59-year-old man who already suffered from a number of different diseases, for whom no “publicity to poultry or different animals” was reported. This was communicated by the World Well being Group after the Mexican authorities reported the case to the Pan American Well being Group (PAHO), the WHO regional workplace for the Americas, on Might 23. It is a undeniable fact that “should fear us in order to not discover ourselves unprepared as occurred with Covid”. Fabrizio Pregliasco, professor of Hygiene on the College of Milan and director of the IRCCS Galeazzi Hospital – Sant’Ambrogio in Milan, is satisfied of this.

There’s nonetheless no readability on the case of the lady who died in Mexico: “From what emerges – Pregliasco noticed to AGI – the sufferer had not had contact with contaminated animals. And subsequently we might be confronted with a human-human contagion” . “The scenario might be the tip of an iceberg and conceal a wider unfold at animal stage with the danger of attainable contagion”, defined the virologist, based on whom the one measure to take is that of “epidemiological surveillance which additionally consists of any vaccination protection for personnel in danger”.

Thus far there is no such thing as a vaccine for the brand new variant of avian flu that killed the lady in Mexico, however “due to mRna know-how, the sera might be developed in a short time”. Uncooked milk is below accusation within the case of the loss of life: “Pasteurization of milk is crucial not solely to keep away from ailments comparable to avian flu, but in addition to keep away from contracting Salmonella or E. Coli”, warned Pregliasco.