The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that since 2003, 462 deaths out of 887 instances of H5N1 bird flu have occurred, or 52 deaths out of every 100 cases.
Digital Desk: Experts have expressed concern about the possibility of a pandemic caused by birds, stating that it might be "100 times worse than Covid" and that up to half of the people affected could die.
Concerns were voiced about the H5N1 type of bird flu during a recent briefing by researchers. According to a report by the UK-based tabloid Daily Mail, they voiced concern that the virus may be getting close to a crucial threshold that might start a worldwide pandemic.
Prominent Pittsburgh-based bird flu researcher Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi warned during the briefing that H5N1 could start a pandemic because it can infect a variety of mammalian hosts, including humans. He said, "We are getting dangerously close to this virus potentially causing a pandemic."
"We are talking about a virus that is circulating, prevalent throughout the world, and has already infected a variety of mammals—we are not actually talking about a virus that hasn't made the leap yet. We really need to get ready," he added.
Consultant to the pharmaceutical business and founder of BioNiagara, a Canadian pharmaceutical company, John Fulton, pointed out these worries, highlighting the seriousness of a potential H5N1 pandemic and speculating that it would be far deadlier than Covid-19.
"If this virus mutates and keeps up its high case fatality rate, it might be 100 times worse than Covid." "We can only hope that the [fatality rate] decreases once it mutates to infect humans," Fulton said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that since 2003, 462 deaths out of 887 instances of H5N1 bird flu have occurred, or 52 deaths out of every 100 cases. On the other hand, the current Covid fatality rate is less than 0.1 percent. That was, however, about 20 percent during the beginning of the pandemic.
FIRST CASE OF HUMAN INFECTION FROM MAMMAL
The most recent event follows this week's reports of bird flu outbreaks from a Michigan poultry factory and a Texas egg producer. Furthermore, there have been reports of sick dairy cows as well as the first instance of a human catching bird flu from a mammal.
The White House began "close monitoring" when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined that a dairy farm worker in Texas had contracted H5N1.
As opposed to a prior occurrence in Colorado in 2022 where a person tested positive for bird flu following direct exposure to chickens and ensuing bird culling, this is the first known case of an individual catching bird flu from dairy cattle.
With millions of animals affected on land and in the sea, the virus has spread quickly among dairy farms in five states in the United States: Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, and Texas.
Despite the fact that US health officials have stated that there is still little risk to the public, there is growing alarm, partly because the nation's largest fresh egg producer has reported an outbreak.
H5N1: what is it?
A Live Science research states that H5N1 is a subtype of the related bird flu viruses known as avian influenza A. Because it makes chickens sick and frequently dies, it is regarded as extremely pathogenic. H5N1, although mostly affecting birds, can also infect wild birds, and even humans. Though some cases may be minor or exhibit no symptoms, the disease can be lethal in non-bird animals.
China published a report in 1996 detailing the first H5N1 virus detection. Eighteen human cases and six fatalities from direct bird-to-human transmission were reported from an outbreak that happened in Hong Kong a year later.
Leave A Comment