The A/H5N1 variant of avian influenza has become “a global zoonotic animal pandemic“. Last month, cows and goats were added to the list of affected species, a development considered surprising by experts because they were not thought to be susceptible to this type of flu. And now the risk that this virus can spread to humans “remains a great concern”. This was stated by Jeremy Farrar, Chief Scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO).
To date, no human-to-human transmission of the virus has been recorded, this is the premise, but H5N1 had an ‘extremely high’ mortality rate among the people who have been infected to date. This “is an influenza infection that began predominantly in poultry and ducks, and has spread effectively over the last year or two to become a global zoonotic – animal – pandemic. The big concern, of course, is that in doing so, and infecting ducks and poultry – but now more and more mammals – the virus evolves and develops the ability to infect humans. And then, critically, you develop the ability to pass through human-to-human transmission“, highlighted Farrar. His words were reflected in various international media.
The expert commented on the H5N1 outbreak recorded among dairy cows in the United States and urged further careful monitoring and investigation by public health authorities, “because it could evolve and be transmitted in different ways.” “We need to ensure that if H5N1 were to reach humans through human-to-human transmission, we will be in a position to respond immediately with equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.”
In the spirit of increasing international cooperation in the event of a new pandemic, WHO also announced updated language to describe airborne pathogens. The initiative, Farrar explained, was originally sparked by the Covid emergency and the recognition of a lack of commonly agreed upon terms among doctors and scientists to describe how the coronavirus is transmitted, which increased the challenge posed by that crisis.
To avoid similar situations, WHO conducted consultations with four major public health agencies from Africa, China, Europe and the United States, before announcing agreement on a set of new agreed terms. For example, the term ‘infectious respiratory particles’, or Irp, should be used instead of ‘aerosol’ and ‘droplet’, to avoid any confusion regarding the size of the particles involved. Beyond the new terminology, the initiative nevertheless consolidates the international community’s commitment to tackling “increasingly complex and frequent epidemics and pandemics”, Farrar finally highlighted to journalists in Geneva.
