break out Avian Influenza In the first half of 2023, it has generally not attracted much attention from the world.Basically because the main focus of the infection is still mostly birds. It’s unclear how long this will last, though.
recent Outbreak of the H5N1 strain in catsIn Europe, this raises another level of concern, escalating material cycle The virus spreads from birds to mammals.Given this situation, the World Health Organization (WHO) would like to have a list of vaccines that protect people If the worst happens.
June 27 last year marked the new turning pointwhen Poland notified the World Health Organization abnormal death Cats in different parts of the country. Forty-seven samples from 46 cats were analyzed, 29 of which were positive for influenza A(H5N1).
As of Tuesday, 61 cats had died, some from the virus and others euthanized.still unknown exposure source to virus. The good news is that, to the best of our knowledge, no one has been in contact with an infected cat and reported symptoms.
All people who have been exposed to animal influenza viruses and contacts of confirmed human cases should monitor your healthat least in 7 days after.
In an interview published by Polish media, the veterinarian who discovered the first cases of the outbreak publicly called for the absence of domestic cats leave the country their owners will stop feeding them raw meatone of the contagion hypotheses.
The World Health Organization assures that recent outbreaks of bird flu in cats have shown that further preparation Avoid worst-case scenario virus-to-virus spread with ‘experimental vaccine’ Humanity.
To make these vaccines, candidate virus have the antigenicity required to match circulating strains viral. “If the virus becomes highly transmissible from person to person, we need to have something Zhang Wenqing, director of the WHO Global Avian Influenza Program, said.
In fact, countries like the United States already they are working on a vaccine Laboratories such as Sanofi and Moderna pointed out in recent statements to Reuters that laboratories targeting bird flu have been able to face the challenge if needed.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “So far, no symptomatic cases of human contact (with infected cats) have been reported, and the surveillance period for all cases has ended.” The Polish episode was the first so many mammals Infection with H5N1 virus wide geographical area.
“The virus is particularly worrying Because it is known to be very dangerous to humans, although it has never been shown to spread easily from person to person,” Gebreyesus said ahead of a visit to Pope Francis in an undisclosed meeting. It was the second time they met: the first was before the pandemic.
According to the World Health Organization, less than 900 cases Between 2003 and 2020, the number of human infections with bird flu increased, but 457 died.
Bird outbreaks reported in U.S. this year 17 countries Among mammals, there are five species. “Outbreaks detected in 15 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are a situation never recorded before“, said Argentina’s latest epidemiological bulletin, which analyzed the situation in the country and globally.
Since the introduction of bird flu to the Americas in 2014, three human infections: The first in the United States on April 29, 2022; the second in Ecuador on January 9, 2023; the third in Chile on March 29, 2023.
From February 1, 2023 (Senasa report date) first There was one case of Avian Influenza in the country (Pozuelos Lagoon, Jujuy) and as of 18 July, 101 outbreaks had been reported in 17 provinces. To date, no mammalian cases have been reported.
“this dangerous person An infected person is a person who has direct or indirect contact with an infected bird (domestic, wild or captive), such as an aviary who maintains close and regular contact with an infected bird, or during slaughter or cleaning and disinfection on an affected farm “,announcement.
It added that “in Argentina, following regional recommendations, early identification Contacts (exposure to sick or dead poultry in case of avian influenza outbreak) and their follow-up for 10 days to identify possible suspected cases (people who developed symptoms during the follow-up period)”.
In Argentina, they have been identified this year 328 people have been exposed to the virus, has been placed under surveillance.they signed up with each other 20 suspected cases, studied by the National Influenza Center. However, the report concluded that “influenza A(H5N1) infection was excluded in all these cases”.
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