Chinese scientists are sounding the alarm over a new strain of H5N8 bird flu. The latter would be highly pathogenic and cases of transmission between humans have been identified this year.
A new pandemic on the way?
Avian influenza is a disease caused by viruses known as “influenza type A” which usually infect wild birds (especially wild ducks and geese) and domestic birds. These viruses are almost always transmitted between birds. But, from time to time, one of these viruses is transmitted to humans who then contract what is called avian flu, flu from birds. What researchers fear is that one day, a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus will succeed in being transmitted from person to person, leading to a human-to-human epidemic.
For the moment, bird flu is spread from infected birds to humans, which limits the number of people infected. But that could change and a worrying scenario is looming, as seven workers at poultry farms in southern Russia have contracted a new strain of bird flu known as “Highly pathogenic” end of 2020. This time it is a human-to-human transmission. Two Chinese scientists, Weifeng Shi and George F. Gao published an article on May 21, 2021 on this subject in the journal Science.
Epidemic outbreaks in 46 countries
“The rapid global spread of this AAV and its proven ability to cross the species barrier to spread to humans make it a major concern not only for the safety of agriculture and wildlife, but also for health. global public ”, comment the researchers in this communicated.
The two scientists also suggest “That the surveillance of highly pathogenic AIVs in poultry farms, live markets and wild birds must become a global priority”, since to date, there are 46 outbreaks in Europe, Asia and Africa.
