Four new cases of bird flu have recently been reported among farm workers in Washington state. With the total rising to 31 cases across six states, flu experts warn that the risk of a wider human outbreak will persist if the virus remains unchecked in animals.
H5 bird flu, a type of avian influenza, has been causing concern for months after infecting dozens of people in the U.S. this year. Now a new human case in Canada — that country’s first — is deepening the worry, especially over whether the virus could lead to another pandemic or lockdown. A teenager is in critical condition and being treated for acute respiratory distress at a children’s hospital in British Columbia after testing positive for bird flu, the CBC reported.
Could bird flu turn into a pandemic? Both experts say it’s unlikely this particular strain of bird flu would lead to a pandemic because it doesn’t have the ability to spread efficiently between people. H5N1 has been infecting humans since 1997, so it’s had time to evolve, but still doesn’t easily jump from person to person, Adalja points out. “I don’t think that this is the highest risk bird flu strain,” he says. “You can’t say the risk is zero. But of the bird flu viruses, it’s lower risk.
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