A human case of H5N1 avian influenza has been detected in in the UK authorities have said. Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the UKHSA, said: "The risk of avian flu to the general public remains very low, despite this confirmed case. Many governments have been buying up vaccine stocks and ramping up precautionary measures in response to the circulating virus. The bird flu variant outbreak has mainly affected the US, where it infected about dairy herds — mainly in California on the US West Coast — between March and early December More than 1, commercial and backyard poultry facilities and hobbyist bird flocks have also been infected.
Around 60 people — mainly agricultural workers working near infected cattle and poultry — have been infected, mainly in the US and Canada. At least two adults in Midwestern state of Missouri, one child in California and another in British Columbia in Canada, have been infected by an unidentified source.
Though no cases of human-to-human transmission have been recorded, there are concerns the H5N1 variant could be one mutation away from becoming a major public health concern.
A study published in the journal Science on December 5 found that a single genetic change to the circulating H5N1 had enabled it to jump more easily from other mammals to humans. Davis said influenza's ability to exchange genetic information inside mammals meant a much different, potentially dangerous pathogen could develop.
Genetic shifts in the virus may make it easier to spread to humans. Ultimately it was a novel coronavirus and not an influenza strain that triggered the pandemic. But the chance of a global influenza-driven event was — and is — cause for concern. Other nations are increasing surveillance and precautionary measures.
