For the WHO, the risk of lasting transmission of avian flu between humans is still low

There World Health Organization (WHO) considered that the risk of long-lasting transmission of avian flu A(H5N1) in humans “is low”, after the outbreak of the virus in Cambodia, with at least two people affected, some of whom have died.

In a situation report published by the agency on Sunday, they assured that “although characterization of the virus in these human cases is pending, available epidemiological and virological evidence suggests that current A(H5) viruses have not acquired the capacity for sustained human-to-human transmissionso the likelihood of sustained human-to-human spread is low.

With information obtained from data distributed by Member State Ministries of Health and Member State National Influenza Centers to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) or from updates from Ministries of health of member states on its web pages, the WHO has estimated that at this time the risk posed by this virus to the general population is “low”, despite the fact that it is a serious disease for the man and high mortality.

“Community-level spread is considered unlikely, since, according to available information, this virus has not acquired the ability to be easily transmitted between humans,” they insisted from the agency.

Last Thursday, Cambodia notified the WHO of a confirmed case of human infection, an 11-year-old girl from the southern province of Prey Veng, who had started showing symptoms the previous Thursday and was treated at a hospital. On February 21, the girl was admitted to the National Children’s Hospital with severe pneumonia. On the same day, he tested positive for the virus by PCR. Eventually, the girl died on Wednesday.

In this context, the Cambodian health authorities have identified a total of 12 close contacts (eight asymptomatic and four symptomatic meeting the definition of a suspected case) of the initial case and samples have been collected and analyzed. Laboratory investigations confirmed the second case that same Thursday, the girl’s father, who is asymptomatic but isolated in a referral hospital.

These are the first two cases of avian influenza A (H5N1) reported in Cambodia since 2014, after the country first reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in December 2003 that affected wild birds. Since then, and until 2014, human cases due to poultry-to-human transmission were sporadically reported in Cambodia.

Similarly, the WHO ruled out “the application of travel or trade restrictions”, nor did it support carrying out special checks on travelers at points of entry or restrictions regarding the current situation of influenza viruses.

Although WHO experts have pointed out that the virus “does not easily infect humans and person-to-person spread appears unusual,” they noted that “an outbreak investigation is ongoing and includes identifying the source of virus exposure from the two reported cases.”

In this regard, they also recalled that “almost all cases of influenza A (H5N1) virus infection in humans were associated with close contact with live or dead infected birds, or with contaminated environments. by the virus”.

Thus, and given that the virus “continues to be detected in poultry populations”, the WHO estimated that “more cases in humans can be expected”.

In this regard, they explained that “whenever avian influenza viruses circulate in poultry, there is a risk of sporadic infection or small clusters of human cases due to exposure to infected poultry or contaminated environments”.

In the same report, the WHO noted that there are already vaccines against avian influenza A (H5N1) for human use in the event of a pandemic, although he pointed out that “they are not widely available”.

They therefore recommended that all people who work with poultry or birds get vaccinated against the seasonal flu to reduce potential risks.

Along the same lines, as advice to avoid new cases, the agency said that when avian influenza viruses are circulating in an area, people who participate in high-risk tasks, such as collecting sick birds , the slaughter and disposal of infected poultry, and the cleaning of contaminated premises, “should be recorded and closely monitored by local health authorities for seven days after the last day of contact with infected poultry or their environment”.

They also clarified that travelers to countries with animal flu epidemics “should avoid farms, contact with animals in live animal markets, entry into areas where animals may be slaughtered or contact with any surface that appears to be contaminated with animal feces.

Avian influenza or influenza is an infectious disease that mainly affects birds and is caused by a virus from the Orthomyxoviridae family.

Some avian influenza virus subtypes are highly pathogenic.mainly due to the type A subtypes (H5 and H7). They can cause severe disease in birds and spread rapidly, with high mortality rates in different species of birds, they say from the WHO .

“Most influenza viruses circulating in birds are not zoonotic. However, some strains of highly pathogenic avian influenza have the ability to infect humans, posing a threat to public health. The H5N1 virus, the same as the one detected in infected birds in Argentina, was responsible for a major outbreak in Hong Kong and China in 1997.

Wild birds, mainly migratory, are the natural host of the virus and are the main factor of spread throughout the American continent. Poultry populations can contract the disease through contact with infected wild birds.

Since 2003, this bird flu virus and others have spread from Asia to Europe and Africa. In the Americas, this virus was first identified in domestic and wild birds in December 2014, in the United States.

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