2024-04-18 15:14:08
18 avril 2024
At a press conference held to introduce new measures against airborne pathogens, the World Health Organization expressed major concern about the H5N1 virus. The increase in contamination of mammals, including humans, raises fears that the virus will evolve into human-to-human transmissions.
After having devastated populations of wild birds and decimated poultry farms, will avian flu soon be capable of being transmitted from humans to humans? In any case, this is what the World Health Organization (WHO) fears.
Its experts gathered this Thursday, April 18 at the Geneva headquarters of the UN to present new measures against pathogens transmitted by air. On this occasion, Dr. Jeremy Farrar, chief scientist at the WHO, highlighted the mortality rate “extremely high” among the hundreds of people infected with the H5N1 virus to date. Concretely, since the start of 2023 until March 25, 2024, 888 human cases of avian flu infection have been reported to the WHO in 23 countries. Of these 888 cases, 463 deaths occurred, or more than half of those infected.
From birds to humans
To date, no human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus has been recorded. But its capacity for adaptation and its rapid interspecies spread make us fear the worst. “The H5N1 virus is an influenza infection, which began primarily in poultry and ducks and has spread widely over the past two years to become a global zoonosis,” said Jeremy Farrar. “The big concern, obviously, is that by infecting ducks and chickens in this way – and now increasing numbers of mammals – this virus evolves and develops the ability to infect humans. And then, critically, the ability to move to human-to-human transmission.”
Among mammals, avian flu has been detected in raccoons, skunks, foxes, dogs, cats and even farmed mink. Recently, at the beginning of April, we learned of the contamination of a human by dairy cows suffering from avian flu. This is the very first confirmed case of transmission of influenza between humans and another mammal. Until now, affected mammals had been infected by birds.
Delay on H5N1 vaccines
The case of American dairy cows makes Jeremy Farrar fear “an evolution of modes of transmission” of the virus. The WHO expert mentions a “major concern” and calls on countries to already anticipate human-to-human transmission. “I believe we need to ensure that if the H5N1 virus spreads to humans through human-to-human transmission, we are able to respond immediately by providing equitable access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics.”
But in these areas either, the WHO is not optimistic. When it comes to vaccines and diagnosis, the whole world is lagging behind: vaccine development is not “where we should be”, regretted Dr. Farrar. As for the health authorities, at this stage they would not have the capacity to diagnose H5N1.
Source : The New Scientist, OMS, Canada.ca
Written by: Dorothée Duchemin – Edited by Emmanuel Ducreuzet
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