Just Like COVID, Bird Flu Virus Is Also Mutating: Experts Warn Of High Potential For Humans Outbreak
Just Like COVID, Bird Flu Virus Is Also Mutating
Alert! Bird flu or the avian influenza virus is mutating.
Amid rising fears about a possible fifth wave of COVID-19 in India, experts have warned about the massive spread of Bird Flu virus in the country. In the latest report issued by the health officials of India, the government has sounded alert in Bihar after several cases of H5N1 virus were confirmed in the state. What is more concerning at the moment are the new mutations which experts have noticed in the virus. Let’s understand how threatful are these new mutations in the virus, and where India stands when it comes to facing an outbreak of the H3N1 virus or the bird flu virus.
New Mutation In Bird Flu Virus Shows High Potential For Humans Outbreak
Bird flu is an air-borne infection caused by strains of the influenza virus that primarily infect birds. The mode of transmission of this virus is via infected body fluids of the birds. The virus mainly affects the avian community of the environment. What about the humans? Although experts had shown cases of human transmission of the H3N1 0r H2N3 virus and the possibility of it entering and evading the immune system, the chances of it causing severe outcomes for humans were too low. But this is not the case anymore. A recent study has revealed something unusual and new. According to the scientists, they have identified new mutations in the avian influenza virus H5N1, which recently infected a man in Chile, and may pose a risk of spreading in humans.
According to the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC), the risk of spread from human to human remains low but the new changes seen are ‘concerning’. It also suggests that the potential risk of human spillover is increasing.
Last month in a statement, Chile’s Health Ministry confirmed that a 53-year-old man has tested positive for the H5N1 virus. As per the medical reports, the man was reported to be in serious but stable condition with a severe pneumonia-like condition.
China Reports First Bird Flu Death
This comes a few days after Chin confirmed the first human death by the Bird Flu virus. The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the death of a 56-year-old Chinese woman due to the H3N8 bird flu strain that is rare in humans. The H3N8 subtype of avian influenza is a rare strain of the virus and it is unusual to spread among the human community.
Talking about this rare case of bird flu death in China, the WHO confirmed that the virus responsible for the infection was influenza A(H3), which is very common in birds and extremely rare for humans. As per the global health body, there were no additional cases reported among people who had been in close contact with the infected individual.
Source-https://www.thehealthsite.com
