Geneva.- Changes in the H5N1 bird flu virus found in animals in South America seem to indicate that this pathogen is adapting better to mammals, but human cases are still sporadic and “there is no reason to panic,” he said. today an expert from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The H5N1 virus found in South America has “small genetic differences” with respect to that of Asia, where the first cases were found decades ago, “but it does not mean that it is more transmissible to humans,” Sylvie Briand, director of the virus, clarified at a press conference. WHO for Pandemic Preparedness.
For now, the only confirmed human cases in South America (one in Ecuador and another in Chile, both in recent months) “are sporadic, so we are not facing the risk of outbreaks, for now it is an animal health problem,” assured.
“WHO, with the collaboration of other agencies, is closely monitoring the cases to find possible signs that the virus has become more dangerous, but now is not the time for the public to worry or panic,” added the French expert.
Briand explained that the virus is spreading geographically through migratory birds, with cases already all over the world, and outbreaks are also being recorded in other species such as dolphins or sea lions that are of concern to the WHO.
The organization is especially concerned about the spread of the virus to populations of small mammals, such as mink, “since their respiratory tract contains receptors similar to humans,” said the expert.
Nearly 900 human cases of H5N1 bird flu have been reported in two decades, with a fatality rate of more than 50 percent, mainly in East Asia and the Middle East.
At today’s press conference, organized by the Association of Accredited Correspondents to the United Nations (ACANU), the expert cited avian influenza as one of the pathogens that the WHO is following most closely given the risk of generating future pandemics such as the of covid-19, in whose fight Briand has been a leading figure.
Another virus closely followed by experts from the WHO and other institutions is that of mpox or monkeypox, after an outbreak last year, the first outside its endemic area of Africa, caused 87,000 infections and 130 deaths in more than a hundred countries.
The WHO, he added, also closely follows the evolution of arboviruses (viruses transmitted by insects) such as yellow fever, dengue, Zika or chikungunya.
Climate change is increasing the geographical spread of insect transmitters of these arboviruses, such as the Aedes mosquito, making it difficult to fight associated outbreaks, which are often several of these diseases at the same time, making it more difficult to fight and prevention, Briand explained. EFE