Experts warn of bird flu pandemic risk

The H5N1 virus has been circulating among birds for several decades - first it appeared in Asia, but over time it spread around the world. For example, earlier in Lower Saxony as a result of the spread of avian flu had to kill more than 90 thousand birds, writes Bild.

In 2021, bird flu reached North America, in the fall of 2023 cows were first infected there. Now the wave of infection is spreading across 12 states. Researchers believe that the virus can infect people. Moreover, in all likelihood, in the future it can be transmitted from person to person.

"The likelihood of human infection is all the greater the longer and wider the virus circulates among different mammals," Isabella Eckerle, a virologist and head of the Center for Emerging Viral Diseases at the University of Geneva, told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.

Harvard epidemiologist Michael Mina says US authorities are "playing with fire" by not taking sufficient measures against the spread of the disease. Meanwhile, the H5N1 virus has already been detected in mice and cats.

According to the US Center for Disease Control, the virus can cause both mild upper respiratory and eye infections and potentially fatal illnesses - such as pneumonia - in humans.

"The avian influenza virus is now widespread among wild birds around the world, which increases the risk of its adaptation to humans," former WHO pandemic expert Prof. Klaus Steer told BILD.

At the same time, he said, bird flu is not currently transmitted from person to person.

"Diseases and deaths among humans are currently extremely rare. It requires very intensive contact with infected animals, and infected humans do not transmit the virus," Steer added.

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