The bird flu virus, which is spreading among wild birds, poultry, and mammals, could potentially cause a pandemic worse than COVID-19 if it mutates and becomes transmissible between humans, experts at the Pasteur Institute in France state, as reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
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We fear that the virus will adapt to mammals, and especially to humans, become capable of human-to-human transmission, and this virus will become a pandemic virus.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 has already led to the culling of hundreds of millions of birds worldwide, disrupting food supplies and raising prices, although human infections have so far remained rare. According to Rameix-Welti, humans do not have antibodies against this virus, unlike seasonal H1 and H3 influenza.
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An avian flu pandemic would likely be quite severe, potentially even more severe than the pandemic we experienced.
Despite this, the risk of a pandemic among humans is currently estimated as low.
We need to be ready to react quite early. But for now, you can safely walk in the forest, eat chicken and eggs, and enjoy life. The risk of a pandemic is possible. But in terms of probability, it is still very low.
At the same time, experts emphasize that the world is now better prepared for a potential pandemic: "The positive aspect of influenza, compared to COVID, is that we have specific preventive measures. We have candidate vaccines ready, and we know how to produce a vaccine quickly," said Rameix-Welti.
We also have stockpiles of specific antiviral drugs that, in principle, would be effective against this avian influenza virus.
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