The UK has taken a significant step by ordering five million vaccines against bird flu amid fears that the H5N1 strain could spark the next global health crisis. As we near the fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset, there are concerns that avian influenza is just “one mutation from being the next Covid.”
At present, bird flu does not transmit between humans, but scientists are keeping a vigilant eye on it after outbreaks in US dairy cattle.
The i newspaper disclosed that CSL Seqirus, a major flu vaccine manufacturer, stands ready to produce over 100 million pandemic vaccines if needed. Alarm bells were rung by the outbreak in the US, which has affected multiple states, with California declaring an emergency and Louisiana recently reporting its first “severe” human case of bird flu.
Since 2003, there have been 939 human cases of bird flu worldwide, resulting in 464 fatalities, all contracted directly from birds or animals. While the risk to people remains low, the presence of the virus in dairy cattle, which often interact with humans, is raising scientific concern.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has reassured that the disease is primarily avian and poses a very low risk to public health. Nonetheless, a study published in the Science journal suggests that the virus might be only one genetic shift away from becoming easily transmissible among humans, reports the Express.
Researchers at Scripps Research in San Diego have highlighted that a particular mutation known as Q226L might enable the virus to bind to human-cell receptors. Yet for human-to-human transmission, additional genetic changes are necessary.
The UK has secured five million doses of vaccines last autumn, keeping them on standby should the threat level escalate to level 5. Both the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Animal Plant and Health Agency remain vigilant for signs of the virus in humans through routine checks on poultry workers.
Further investigations into the transmission amongst poultry and marine mammals are underway in the UK. A spokesperson for the Government stated: “We continually update our pandemic planning as concerns about infectious diseases emerge and recently announced the purchase of more than five million doses of human H5 influenza to ensure we are prepared.”
There has been a US outbreak of bird flu in dairy cattle
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