Avian flu could be transmitted to humans
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jun 2024
The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern regarding the potential for transmission of avian influenza to other species including humans.
WHO chief scientist Jeremy Farrar said the situation is one of “enormous concern”. Dr Farrar said, “H5N1 is an influenza infection, that predominantly started in poultry and ducks and over the course of the last one or two years, has spread effectively to become a global zoonotic (animal) pandemic.
“The great concern, of course, is that in doing so and infecting ducks and chickens - but now increasingly mammals - the virus now evolves and develops the ability to infect humans and then critically, the ability to go from human-to-human transmission.”
The current outbreak began in 2020 and has affected not only ducks and chickens but also cows and goats.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the WHO have urged all countries to work together across sectors to save as many animals as possible and to protect people.
Avian influenza viruses normally spread among birds, but the increasing number of H5N1 avian influenza detections among mammals – which are biologically closer to humans than birds – raises concern that the virus might adapt to infect humans more easily.
In addition, some mammals may act as mixing vessels for influenza viruses, leading to the emergence of new viruses that could be more harmful to animals and humans. M