Experts warn of deadly bird flu pandemic 100 times worse than Covid-19

The bird flu pandemic with the potential to be 100 times worse than COVID may be on the horizon after a rare human case was discovered in Texas experts have warned the New York Post reported on ThursdayThe H5N1 avian flu has spread rapidly since a new strain was detected in 2020 affecting wild birds in every state as well as in commercial poultry and backyard flocksBut the recent cases detected in mammals with cattle herds across four states becoming infected and on Monday federal health officials announced that a dairy worker in Texas caught the virusThis virus has been on the top of the pandemic list for many many years and probably decades Suresh Kuchipudi a bird flu researcher from Pittsburgh said at a recent panel discussing the issue the New York Post reported citing the Daily MailAnd now were getting dangerously close to this virus potentially causing a pandemicHe noted that the H5N1 virus has already been detected in species throughout the world and has shown the ability to infect a range of mammalian hosts including humansSo therefore in my view I think this is a virus that has the greatest pandemic threat that is playing out in plain sight and globally present Kuchipudi saidJohn Fulton a pharmaceutical industry consultant for vaccines and the founder of Canadabased BioNiagara who organized the meeting also expressed his concerns the Mail reports the New York Post reportedThis appears to be 100 times worse than COVID or it could be if it mutates and maintains its high case fatality rate he saidOnce its mutated to infect humans we can only hope that the fatality rate dropsAround 52 per cent of humans who have contracted H5N1 since 2003 have died according to the World Health OrganizationFor comparison COVID currently kills less than 0137 of those it infects though at the start of the pandemic the fatality rate was around 20 per centSymptoms of the bird flu are similar to those of other flus including cough body aches and fever the New York Post reportedSome people may not develop noticeable symptoms but others can develop severe lifethreatening pneumoniaThe dairy worker in Texas who was infected has reported eye redness consistent with conjunctivitis as their only symptom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notedAlso Read lsquoDrafting a living will safeguards your right to live and die with dignityrsquoThe patient was told to isolate and is being treated with an antiviral drug for the flu the CDC saidThe agency and the whole US government is taking this situation very seriously CDC Director Mandy Cohen told the Washington PostShe maintained that the virus does not pose much of a risk to the general public noting that the dairy worker was in direct contact with infected cattle and the US Department of Agriculture has said there are currently no changes that would make it more transmissible to humansWhile cases among humans in direct contact with infected animals are possible this indicates that the current risk to the public remains low the department said in a statement over the weekendBut the fact that the virus has been found in cattle could mean it is starting to mutate Cohen told the Washington PostWe had not seen avian flu in cattle prior to last week That is new she said It is a reservoir for the virus to circulate and potentially changeIf the virus does mutate enough to infect humans it could spread rapidly the European Food Safety Authority warned on Wednesday according to Fox NewsIf avian A H5N1 influenza viruses acquire the ability to spread efficiently among humans largescale transmission could occur due to the lack of immune defences against H5 viruses in humans the Food Safety Authority saidAlso Read Its lsquothat timersquo of the month Is India ready to have a menstrual leave policyTo prevent any potential spread the US is already testing components used to create a vaccine for the virus and two candidate vaccine viruses appear to be wellmatched to protect against H5N1 the Washington Post reportsWhite House press secretary Karine JeanPierre also said the Biden administration is monitoring the threatWe take the health and safety of the American people seriously she said at her briefing on Wednesday It is very important to this presidentOur top priority is to keep communities healthy safe and informedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever