After Russia informed that it had detected a first case of transmission to humans of the H5N8 strain of avian flu, the French government wanted to be reassuring.
- The Russian health agency said on Saturday February 20 that cases of the H5N8 virus in humans were detected in a poultry factory in southern Russia.
- According to the WHO, cases of inter-species transmission remain “rare”.
- In a press release, the French government indicated that there is to date “no risk of transmission to humans” of the H5N8 strain.
Is the H5N8 strain of avian flu, detected in poultry farms in France, transmissible to humans? This is what Russia said this Saturday, February 20. “The laboratory has confirmed the first case of infection of a person with the group A virus, avian influenza AH5N8”Anna Popova, director of the Rospotrebnadzor health agency, told Russian television.
According to Moscow, which informed the World Health Organization (WHO) of this “significant discovery”, the virus was detected in seven people working in a poultry factory in southern Russia, considered an epidemic focus last December. The director of Rospotrebnadzor, however, indicated that the patients are doing well and are not suffering from any complications for the time being. According to her, “measures were quickly taken to control the situation”. However, it specifies that the discovery of these human cases “give the whole world time to prepare in the event that this virus becomes more pathogenic and more dangerous for humans and acquires the capacity to be transmitted from person to person”.
Transmission to humans “rare” according to WHO
Faced with this news of a potential inter-species transmission of the H5N8 strain, the French government wants to reassure and affirms that there is to date “no risk of transmission to humans“. However, analyzes are underway to compare the virus circulating in France and that which infected humans in Russia.
“To date, 130 complete viral sequences have been obtained in this way. None of the analyzes carried out by ANSES (Health Security Agency) has shown properties giving rise to fears of a risk of transmission of the influenza virus to humans. avian present on poultry in France”explain in a press release as the French ministries of Agriculture and Health.
For its part, the WHO has stated that the transmission of avian influenza from birds to humans remains rare and requires “direct or close contact with infected birds or their environment”.
.
