The world is still trying to recover from the Corona epidemic, but scientists have sounded another alarm bell - bird flu. Experts have warned about the possible danger of a bird flu epidemic. They say that it can be 100 times more dangerous than Coronavirus and half of the people infected with it can also die. During a recent briefing, researchers discussed bird flu with the H5N1 strain.
According to the Daily Mail report, researchers fear that this virus may cross a critical threshold, causing a global pandemic. During the briefing, Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi, a renowned bird flu researcher from Pittsburgh, warned that H5N1 has the potential to cause a pandemic. It can infect many mammals including humans. He said that we are getting dangerously close to this virus, which could potentially cause a pandemic.
The virus is extremely dangerous.
He further said that we are not talking about the virus which has not yet infected the human body. Rather, we are talking about a virus that is already present around the world, has already infected many mammals, and is continuously spreading. It is time that we get ready to fight this.
John Fulton, founder of Canadian pharmaceutical company BioNiagara, also stressed the seriousness of the H5N1 pandemic. He said that it could be more dangerous than Corona. He said that it can be much more dangerous than Corona and if there is a mutation in it then its mortality rate is higher. Once it turns to infect humans, we can only hope that the death rate goes down.
WHO report is scary!
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), out of every 100 people infected with H5N1 bird flu since 2003, 52 have died. Overall, out of 887 cases, 462 people have died. In comparison, the current mortality rate of Covid-19 is less than 0.1 percent. However, at the beginning of the pandemic, this rate was around 20 percent.
There is also a reason for concern a few days ago, an outbreak of avian flu was reported in a poultry farm in Michigan and an egg producer in Texas. Additionally, the first case of bird flu infection from a mammal has also been reported in infected dairy cows and a person. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed H5N1 infection in a dairy farm employee in Texas, after which the White House has started strict monitoring.
The first case of bird flu infection from cattle to person:
This is the first case of bird flu infection from dairy cattle to a person. Earlier in 2022, in a case in Colorado, a person tested positive for bird flu after direct contact with chickens and subsequent bird droppings. The virus has spread rapidly among animal herds in five US states - Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, and Texas, affecting millions of animals both on land and in the sea. Although US health officials have said the risk to the public is low, news of an outbreak reported by the country's largest producer of fresh eggs is raising concerns.
What is H5N1?
According to a report, H5N1 is a subtype of avian influenza A, which is a group of bird flu viruses. It is considered more dangerous because it causes serious and often fatal diseases in birds. Although it primarily affects birds, H5N1 can also infect wild birds and sometimes mammals, including humans. Apart from birds, this disease can cause death, but in some cases, there may be mild symptoms or no symptoms may be seen. The H5N1 virus was first detected in birds in China in 1996. A year later, an outbreak occurred in Hong Kong, resulting in 18 cases of direct bird-to-human transmission and 6 deaths.
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