VOA News | Wednesday, December 18, 2024 
Bird flu spillover to other species poses global health threat, experts warn

GENEVA — International human and animal health experts warn the H5N1 avian influenza is evolving quickly and posing a global health threat as the virus is increasingly crossing species barriers and infecting a wide range of domestic and wild mammals. “These developments pose significant challenges to animal, human and environmental health,” Dr. Gregorio Torres, veterinarian and head of the science department at the World Organization for Animal Health, told journalists in Geneva Tuesday. He noted that avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has been reported in 108 countries and territories over five continents in the last three years. “And as of December 2024, the infection has been detected in over 70 species of domestic and wild mammals. This includes the ongoing detection of H5N1 in dairy cattle in the United States,” Torres said. “So far, the close monitoring of the virus has not found markers that could suggest effective mammalian adaptation, but we know this can change at any time,” he said. – Most human cases in US – The World Health Organization this week reported 76 people were infected with the H5 avian influenza viruses in 2024, most of them among farm workers. Sixty-one of these cases occurred in the United States, which has reported outbreaks in wildlife, poultry and, more recently, dairy cattle. “This is the first time we have seen the infections from dairy cattle to humans, and so many within the U.S.” said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic threat management at WHO…Read more