An H5N1 bird flu strain that killed a student in Cambodia has evolved to better infect human cells. The case, according to experts, represents a worrying sign. The field scientists who made the discovery said the situation “needs to be treated with the utmost care”. According to their findings there would be “some indications” that would demonstrate how the virus has already “crossed” a human being and picked up the new mutations before infecting the girl.
H5N1 avian flu, human cases
“The Cambodian authorities have informed us of 2 confirmed cases of H5N1 bird flu, both members of the same family. One of the cases is the 11-year-old girl “, who “unfortunately died” in recent days. She is the first confirmed victim. “We are in close contact with the country’s authorities to understand more about the epidemic. Field investigations are ongoing. The global H5N1 situation is worrying given the widespread spread of the virus in birds worldwide and growing reports of cases in mammals, including humans. This was underlined by Sylvie Briand, director of the Preparation and prevention of epidemics and pandemics of the World Health Organization (WHO), in a press meeting that took place on 24 February. “H5N1 influenza is a serious respiratory disease, with a range of observed symptoms from mild to fatal. The mortality rate among cases reported with H5N1 infection over the years is more than 50%,” Briand recalled, explaining that “WHO takes the risk of this virus seriously and urges greater vigilance on the part of all the countries”.
Remuzzi: “It could also spread from person to person”
After the Covid experience, many are now wondering: could H5N1 be the next pandemic? “Now the risk to humans appears to be low. But in principle it could be. In the sense that these viruses can mutate” and acquire the ability to “infect humans more easily than is currently happening”. And in a similar case, “with these characteristics, it could also spread from person to person”. This was underlined to beraking latest news Salute by Giuseppe Remuzzi, director of the Mario Negri Irccs Institute for Pharmacological Research, who explains what we know about the virus and what we can predict. If on paper it cannot be excluded that avian flu becomes a more concrete threat to man, “on the other hand it must be remembered – observes Remuzzi – that the virus has been in circulation for 25 years and it is not so easy” that there is a turning point of this type, “even if” in this period “several cases have been detected in mammals” and even if “there may be mutations that we are unable to predict at this moment”.
The previous
Speaking of unexpected turns, the Italian scientist recalls “what happened in 2009”. The A/H1N1 virus, which became pandemic that year, was in fact a gene reassortment, a subtype of human influenza virus that was the result of a combination of two swine influenza viruses that contained genes of avian origin and Human. «These exchanges of genes are phenomena that occur and occur at random. It is therefore difficult to say whether this will cause the next pandemic ». And the threat could come “also from another virus”, he points out. For avian flu, «the possibility of it passing to man already exists and has already been seen. But the person must come into very close contact with an infected bird, dead or alive, or with surfaces contaminated by “liquids” or biological material from “infected animals”. And in fact, Remuzzi points out, “in countries where these passages from animals to humans are easier, people live with chickens at home or in any case in close contact with poultry”.