Bird Flu Strain two Mutations From Potential Human Pandemic, Expert Warns
A three-year-old girl in Mexico has died from the H5N1 avian influenza virus, raising concerns about the potential for wider spread and mutation of the disease.Simultaneously, approximately 300 ostriches at a farm in Edgewood, British Columbia, were culled Friday due to infection with the same strain. Experts warn the virus is evolving and could pose a meaningful threat to human health.
The H5N1 strain currently circulating globally has already undergone two mutations that bring it closer to being capable of infecting humans, according to Jean-Pierre vaillancourt, president of the World Animal Biosafety Association.”we are two mutations away from having a virus that would be able to pass easily between human beings and which could, actually, be potentially worse than COVID,” Vaillancourt stated in a Friday interview on QUB radio and TV. While the risk of infection from the ostriches is considered very low, he cautioned, “It’s very low, but it’s not zero.”
The current global spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus (HPAI H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4ba, which began in 2020, is impacting both domestic and wild animals in over 100 countries. The National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) has been closely monitoring the situation as 2022.
Human infections typically occur through direct contact with infected birds-alive or dead-and subsequent touching of mucous membranes without proper hygiene, such as handwashing. While a pandemic is currently considered improbable, the possibility of human-to-human transmission remains a serious concern. Vaillancourt emphasized that if H5N1 were to gain the ability to spread easily between people,the consequences could surpass those of the COVID-19 pandemic.
