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The next pandemic might come from the United States, experts in Spain have warned. According to La Vanguardia, infectious disease specialists have said that as H5N1 avian flu continues to mutate and spread in the US, it could trigger a new pandemic in the near future. Avian influenza, commonly called “bird flu”, is a viral infection that spreads in birds, cows and other animals. Even though there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission taking place currently, experts have said that the virus’s ability to spread through wild species and jump to domestic ones highlights the risk of human infection potentially occurring due to new mutations and recombinations among variants.
According to the outlet, the likelihood that the new pandemic originates in the US is high, however, experts noted that precisely this origin gives them peace of mind due to access to information. “Do not doubt it. If something happens in the US, it will be known instantly,” said Fran Franco, head of the microbiology department at Juan Ramon Jimenez University Hospital in Huelva and a member of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC).
Experts in Spain are convinced that the surveillance system across the globe would detect the infection in humans of the H5N1 avian flu. What happened in the Covid pandemic has allowed to strengthen all systems, they said. “We are much better off than in 2020,” they stated.
Separately, at last week’s media briefing, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, also pointed out the “concerning spread” of the H5N1 avian influenza in the US. “We’ve seen the concerning spread of H5N1 avian influenza to hundreds of dairy herds in the United States, with 58 human cases,” he noted.
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Notably, H5N1 first emerged in 1996 but since 2020, the number of outbreaks in birds has grown exponentially, alongside an increase in the number of infected mammals. The strain has led to the deaths of tens of millions of poultry, with wild birds and land and marine mammals also infected. Human cases recorded in Europe and the United States since the virus surged have largely been mild. However, the WHO has urged countries to step up surveillance for bird flu.
Humans can get bird flu if they come in contact with an infected animal’s body fluid, spit, milk, respiratory droplets or faeces. One can also breathe it in from small dust particles in animal habitats or get it into your eyes, nose or mouth after touching body fluids. People who work with poultry and dairy cows are at the highest risk for bird flu.
Symptoms of avian influenza include pink eye, fever, fatigue, cough, muscle aches, sore throat, nausea and vomiting and diarrhoea. The virus can cause severe illness as well like pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, bacterial infections, sepsis, brain swelling and respiratory failure.
