US media on April 5 quoted experts warning that the possibility of a bird flu pandemic could be 100 times worse than the Covid-19 epidemic, after US federal health officials recorded a dairy farmer in Texas infected with the H5N1 virus.
Since a new strain of influenza was discovered in 2020, H5N1 avian influenza has spread rapidly, affecting wild birds in all US states, as well as commercial poultry farms and domestic poultry flocks. However, cases of the virus have recently been detected in mammals, specifically in livestock flocks in four states and most recently in humans (in Texas).
Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi, a renowned avian flu expert in Pittsburgh, warned at a recent conference that “we are getting close to the point where this virus could cause a pandemic.” According to this expert, the H5N1 virus is the most threatening to cause a pandemic, and the risk is becoming more apparent and global.
According to the New York Post, Mr. John Fulton, founder of the Canadian-based pharmaceutical company BioNiagara, also expressed concern that the H5N1 pandemic “could be 100 times worse than Covid-19”.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 52% of H5N1 infections since 2003 have been fatal. Meanwhile, the mortality rate among people infected with Covid-19 is currently only 0.1%, compared to about 20% at the time of the pandemic outbreak.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Mandy Cohen said the government is taking the situation very seriously. Cohen said the H5N1 virus does not pose a significant threat to humans, adding that the Texas case had direct contact with infected cattle. However, Cohen noted that the fact that the bird flu virus has infected cattle suggests that the virus is starting to mutate.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FSA), “if the H5N1 virus has the ability to spread between humans, large-scale infections are entirely possible because there is no immunity to the H5 virus strain in humans.”
To prevent the risk of spreading, the US has tested and developed two vaccines that are considered suitable candidates to prevent H5N1.
Previously, on April 3, the European Union Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued a warning about the possibility of a widespread bird flu pandemic if the virus spreads among humans due to humans' lack of immunity to this strain.
KHANH HUNG
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