WHO fears bird flu could become the next global pandemic

WHO fears bird flu could become the next global pandemicAFP

fast The spread of bird flu in recent years has led to an increase in fear that this virus could become the next global pandemic, although the head of the influenza prevention department in World Health Organization (WHO) stresses that the world is better prepared than before Covid and vaccines could be available in even less than six months. “It will be three to four months from the start of the pandemic before the first doses hit the market,” he said. Zhang Wenqingwho led the program for 12 years prevention WHO global report on influenza.

He clarified that it is now impossible to prepare these vaccines, since they must be based on latest version virus that causes hypothetical pandemic. Undoubtedly, their genetic composition will differ from that currently circulating in nature, especially in migratory birds and increasingly in mammals such as seals, minks, sea lions, foxes, and more recently domestic species

like dogs or cats. “Countries like the US are hoarding vaccines based on older versions of vaccines. H5N1 virus (the cause of bird flu), which could perhaps be used initially as first doses to buy time until others with updated content and based on new versions are developed,” he noted. Zhang.

From 2020new evolution of bird flu, H5N1 2.3.4.4Bexpanded rapidly thanks to the above migratory birds throughout the American continent, and more and more cases are being reported in mammalsincluding cows and goats on farms in the United States.

WHO is not sounding the alarm

Last Aprilfirst known infection with this disease from mammal to human (dairy farm worker in Texas) and the fact that the virus has been found in the milk of infected cows has raised concerns, although the WHO currently states that “short” H5N1 epidemic risk. “From 2021 was reported 28 cases in humansof which 13 are of the type 2.3.4.4BZhang recalled. among those 13 cases Two are confirmed in Spain, one in Chile and another in Ecuador.

Since the first cases in humans were recorded ago 20 years some have been confirmed 900 infections and in more than half of them the patient died, although the expert asked to take into account the possibility that only the most serious cases requiring hospitalization were identified. Another possible explanation for such a high number of deaths is that “at the moment it is animal virus

which tends to bind to human receptors at the bottom respiratory system (mild), therefore usually causes severe forms of the disease, such as pneumonia”

The virus is trying to jump

In general, the expert emphasizes, the world will be relatively prepared for a hypothetical large-scale arrival of bird flu to humans, the species to which, according to her, the H5N1 virus is trying to adapt. “The virus is having an increasing impact pressure

try to jump over the barrier variety and establish itself among humanity. Every time it infects a person, it’s an attempt,” Zhang emphasized.

epidemiologist recommended for people at risk of infection bird flufor example, workers in farms, get vaccinated against the regular seasonal flu. Although in principle this will not protect against the first of these illnessesthis will reduce the risk of two viruses coexisting in the same human body, creating a possible breeding ground for future and dangerous ones mutations.

virus spread bird flu in America and in various mammal species occurred over several years (from 2020 to 2022) in which the planet’s alarm about influenza pathogens was reduced, primarily due to the forced attention to Covid, but also because preventive measures reduced the spread of ordinary seasonal influenza to a minimum. Even so, Zhang noted, the world is better prepared for possible pandemics, such as the one that could cause bird flu, thanks to the experience gained from Covid-19, as well as new tools, such as messenger RNA vaccines, created to combat with coronavirus. .