The detection of bird flu in the United States raises new questions and worries amid the COVID-19 epidemic.
The news: According to a recent USDA lab examination, the Asian strain of H5N1 avian influenza — often known as bird flu — was recently detected in a South Carolina duck.
This is the First Case of Avian Flu in the United States in Years
The USDA discovered that two other birds shot by hunters contained the same H5N1 avian influenza infection.
As officials watch the possible spread of avian influenza, they encourage hunters to be alert of suspected bird flu signs in their flocks.
According to Wired, it is much too early to determine if the advent of this virus in the United States is a blip, an urgent threat to agriculture, or a zoonotic disease exploring for a way to attack people. However, it serves as a warning that Covid is not the only illness with pandemic potential, and how easy it is to lose sight of other potential dangers.
Another Pandemic
According to Haaretz, officials believe that the bird flu, which is now sweeping Israel’s avian population, will approach COVID-19 in terms of pandemic potential.
However, it is still a possibility that the government and public health officials must be prepared for, according to Haaretz.
The danger is always there, and it is always significant, as long as people are close to birds. Then there is always the danger of an incident in which high pathogenic avian flu may infect a person and become transmissible between humans, as stated by Eyal Leshem, head of the Center for Travel Medicine and Tropical Diseases Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, to Haaretz.
Repeating History?
For years, the avian flu virus has been a potential pathogen. It received a lot of media attention in the early 2000s.
In reality, the H5N1 virus was circulating in Germany, Egypt, and Nigeria in 2006.
A pandemic seemed to be probable. Utah lawmakers have even planned on what to do if a pandemic breaks out.
However, as reported by The Associated Press, the virus’s rate of human-to-human transmission has reduced.
But this isn’t the first time we’ve seen avian flu.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are several avian influenzas, most of which include the letters “H” or “N” in their designations.
These letters are used to identify avian influenzas by representing the virus’s hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins.
In June 2021, a Chinese man became sick with what many thoughts was the first human instance of H10N3 avian influenza.
According to the Associated Press, this illness is an unintentional cross-species transmission; the danger of widespread transmission is minimal, as stated by Chinese officials declared at the time.
