Experts Issue a Warning Regarding the Rapidly Evolving Bird Flu Virus

Experts have issued a warning that the virus responsible for the global increase in bird flu cases is rapidly evolving. This has resulted in requests for poultry immunisation in impacted countries.

While the risk to humans remains minimal, there is rising concern about the growing number of bird flu infections in mammals.

Until the middle of 2021, the H5N1 avian flu virus was mostly responsible for outbreaks throughout specific seasons. However, something changed at that point, causing the group of viruses to become much more contagious, according to Richard Webby, who directs a World Health Organisation (WHO) animal flu research centre.

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Since then, outbreaks have occurred all year and spread to new places, killing countless wild birds and necessitating the culling of millions of hens.

Webby, who works at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, claims this is the world’s largest bird flu outbreak.

The virus became more virulent and caused more severe sickness when it arrived in North America. A ferret was infected with one of the new strains of bird flu in one experiment and was found to have a very high concentration of the virus in its brain. This indicates that it is more pathogenic than previous strains.

Webby emphasises that, while the risk to people remains low, the virus is continually developing and may evolve characteristics that make it simpler to transfer to humans.

Humans becoming infected with bird flu is uncommon, and usually occurs after intimate contact with diseased birds. However, more examples of the virus have been discovered in mammals, which Webby considers very concerning.

According to Webby, bird viruses bind to different receptors on host cells than human viruses. However, by making a few minor adjustments to one viral protein, the virus may become more human-friendly.