Scientists have warned about the risk of an avian flu pandemic, more dangerous than COVID-19

Bird flu virus could cause a pandemic more dangerous than COVID-19. This was reported by BAKU.WS with reference to Reuters.

The Director of the Respiratory Infections Center at the Pasteur Institute in France, Marie-Anne Rameix-Welty, said that the highly pathogenic H5 bird flu strain has led to the mass destruction of hundreds of millions of birds in recent years, disruptions in food supplies, and price increases. Although human infections are rare, the scientist emphasized that the main danger is the possible adaptation of the virus to mammals and transmission from person to person. In this case, H5 could become pandemic.

According to Rameix-Welty, people have no immunity to the H5 virus, as was the case at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, influenza viruses can affect not only vulnerable groups but also completely healthy people, including children. Therefore, a possible bird flu pandemic, in her opinion, could be more severe than COVID-19.

Human infections with H5 strains have already been recorded. For example, in the US, cases of H5N1 have been noted among poultry and cattle, and in November, the first fatal case of human infection with the H5N5 virus was registered in Washington state.

Despite the alarming forecasts, Rameix-Welty noted that the world is now better prepared for such a threat than in 2020: vaccine candidates already exist, there are stocks of antiviral drugs, and technologies for their rapid mass production.

The head of the scientific department of the World Organisation for Animal Health, Gregorio Torres, reassured that the risk of a global pandemic among humans remains low. According to him, there is no reason to panic - people can safely spend time outdoors, consume chicken and eggs.