Danish penguin vaccination: effective during the year or no consensus reached
(Maz Claus Rasmussen)
H5N1, a virus that causes highly pathogenic avian influenza (GAAP), emerged in China in 1996 and spread globally in 2014, reaching parts of Africa and Europe in 2021. Recently, verses of H5 have been discovered in animals from the Americas, including Brazil.
Therefore, the origins of the two recent microbial resurgences are unclear.
In an attempt to elucidate these changes in the ecology and evolution of this pathogen, which also pose risks to mammals, including humans, researchers from the University of Hong Kong will publish a study in the journal nature . The article points out that the persistence of avian influenza in wild bird populations is driving the spread of new strains.
Vijaykrishna Dhanasekaran, an expert in evolutionary genomics and epidemiology, examined the origins and trends of two GAAP sources using epidemiological data collected between 2005 and 2022 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Organization for Animal Health. Scientists will also analyze more than 10,000 complete data sets. Viral genome.
The main resurgence event was identified in 2016/2017, and genomic analysis revealed that these strains originated in Asia, specifically China. The article stated that between 2020 and 2022, two new H5 viruses tracked from African and European bird populations “suggest new changes in the epicenters of H5 viruses in other continents, afastando-se da sia and indo.”
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According to Dhanasekaran, these strains evolved through genetic reassortment and spread with less pathogenic virus variants. The authors believe these findings highlight the importance of elimination strategies to limit virus spread and control the prevalence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in bird populations worldwide. It also highlights the importance of understanding viral evolution to mitigate and reinvigorate new strains.
Raina MacIntyre, head of the biosecurity program at Australia’s Kirby Institute and an expert on avian influenza, agreed: “In the past, killing birds was the preferred response to avian influenza epidemics, but due to the global epidemic Large-scale spread, this approach is unsustainable.” Influenza and emerging infectious diseases were not involved in the study.
“Many countries will change the way they vaccinate birds, which could lead to new viral mutations. The increase in mammalian infections is particularly concerning as it could signal adaptive transmission in mammals and the potential for pandemics Sex. There has never been a moment like this in GAAP history.” “The risk of a human pandemic is more concerning than it is right now.”