Tag: avian flu

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and ConditionsTags : Leave a comment

H5N1 Risk Still ‘Low’ after First US Patient Dies: WHO

On By ModernMedia
Three influenza A (H5N1/bird flu) virus particles (rod-shaped). Note: Layout incorporates two CDC transmission electron micrographs that have been inverted, repositioned, and colourised by NIAID. Scale has been modified. Credit: CDC and NIAID

WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva that the H5N1 virus causing the disease is “not circulating in humans but jumping into humans” who are exposed to poultry or dairy cattle. “We’re not seeing sustained circulation,” she insisted.

Underlying conditions

The man who died of the disease in Louisiana was over 65 and reportedly had underlying medical conditions, Dr Harris said. 

According to the health authorities, he had been exposed to chickens and wild birds. Several dozen people in the US have contracted avian influenza – commonly referred to as bird flu – during the current outbreak, mainly farmworkers in close contact with poultry flocks and cattle herds.

Dr Harris stressed that WHO’s assessment of the risk to the general population “is still low and remains set”. The main concern is for people who work in animal industries because they need to be better protected from infection.

The WHO spokesperson added that the United States was continuing to carry out “a lot of surveillance” in the human and animal population, “in the methods we use for farming, for our food production…all those things need to be combined because indeed it always does pose a risk”.

China respiratory virus is not new

Meanwhile, a respiratory virus gaining ground in China, known as the human metapneumovirus, or hMPV, has been sparking media attention in recent weeks, but it does not represent a new or major threat, Dr. Harris insisted.

The UN health agency spokesperson said that such infections are on the rise in China “as expected during winter”, with seasonal influenza being “by far the most common among them”, as reported by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

“China’s reported levels of respiratory infections are within the usual range for the winter season,” Dr. Harris explained. “Authorities report that hospital utilization is currently lower than this time last year, and there have been no emergency declarations or responses triggered,” she added.

As for hMPV, it was first identified in 2001 and “has been in the human population for a long time”, Dr. Harris clarified. 

‘Very, very low’ risk

She added that it is a common virus that circulates in winter and spring and usually “causes respiratory symptoms similar to the common cold”. 

Like any of the hundreds of common cold viruses known to exist, it can lead to more serious disease in patients with low immunity, particularly but not limited to newborns and the elderly.

Asked about hMPV’s mortality rate, Dr Harris described it as “very, very low”. It is not a pathogen that normally leads to deaths in humans, save for the most vulnerable, she concluded, recommending “simple” prevention measures, such as wearing a mask, improving ventilation of closed spaces and handwashing.

Source: UN News

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and ConditionsTags :

China Reports First Human Infection of the H10N3 Avian Flu Strain

On By ModernMedia
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

On Tuesday, China reported the world’s first human infection of the H10N3 avian flu strain but said the risk of its widespread transmission among people was low.

In the eastern city of Zhenjiang, a 41-year-old man was admitted to hospital with fever symptoms on April 28 and a month later was diagnosed with H10N3, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said in an online statement.

The NHC said that “The risk of large-scale spread is extremely low,” and that the man was in a stable condition with his close contacts having reported no “abnormalities”.

The health body described H10N3 as being low pathogenic, ie less likely to cause death or severe illness, in birds. It said there had been no human cases of H10N3 previously reported anywhere in the world.

A number of strains of bird flu have been found among animals in China but mass outbreaks in humans are rare.

Five waves of the H7N9 influenza epidemic occurred in China between March 2013 and September 2017. Low pathogenicity H7N9 dominated in the first four waves, whereas highly pathogenic H7N9 influenza emerged in poultry and spread to humans during the fifth wave, causing widespread concern.  

H7N9 has infected 1668 people and claimed 616 lives since 2013, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. In the wake of recent avian flu outbreaks in Africa and Eurasia, the head of China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention last week urged closer surveillance in poultry farms, markets and wild birds.

COVID was first detected at a wet market with food and live animals in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. This is where, according to the most likely scenario from the WHO report on the virus’ origins, it is thought that the SARS-CoV-2 virus first jumped from animals to humans. 

Source: Medical Xpress

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and ConditionsTags :

Russia Reports Bird Flu Transmission to Humans

On By ModernMedia

On Saturday, Russia announced that it had detected the first case of the H5N8 strain of bird flu in humans.

The head of Russia’s health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, made the announcement in televised remarks. Scientists at the Vektor laboratory had identified the strain in seven workers at a Southern Russia poultry farm which had experienced an outbreak among the birds in December. No serious health consequences among the workers had been reported, and they are believed to have contracted the virus from the birds on the farm. The World Health Organization had already been alerted to the situation soon before the announcement.

Humans can contract bird flu A(H5N1) and A(H7N9) and swine flu subtypes such as A(H1N1). The bird flu subtype H5N1 is particularly dangerous as it has a 60% mortality rate in humans. According to the WHO, direct transmission between humans of such diseases is limited, and that most transmission comes when humans are in close contact with animals.

Influenza viruses are known to evolve “quite quickly” said Gwenael Vourc’h, head of research at France’s National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment.

She added that there were likely cases outside Russia, saying to the FTP that this “is probably the tip of the iceberg.”

However, Francois Renaud, a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), said that he was “not particularly worried” at this stage as the COVID pandemic had taught countries to react quickly, and that “draconian measures” will be taken to curb the outbreak.

He added that the coronavirus pandemic had taught countries to react quickly to potential health threats. “Draconian measures will be taken to immediately stop the outbreak,” he said.

Avian flu has raged in several European countries including France, where hundreds of thousands of birds have been culled to stop the infection.

The Vektor State Virology and Biotechnology Centre, which picked up the transmission to the poultry farm workers, also developed one of Russia’s coronavirus vaccines. The lab once conducted secret bioweapons research in the Soviet era, and still maintains stockpiles of viruses ranging from Ebola to smallpox.

Vektor chief Rinat Maksyutov said the lab was ready to begin the development of test kits to detect H5N8 in humans, and also to commence working on a vaccine.

Source: Medical Xpress