The Wildlife Conservation Society is warning the global community that the bird flu could potentially infect people, and it could be the next pandemic if a global solution isn’t found. To date, WCS said, the bird flu has affected multiple mammals – foxes, pumas, skunks, seals and bears.
WCS Executive Director of Health said it’s time for governments worldwide to treat the growing crisis with the global urgency it demands.
“H5N1 now presents an existential threat to the world’s biodiversity,” said Dr. Chris Walzer, WCS Executive Director. “It has infected over 150 wild and domestic avian species around the globe as well as a dozens of mammalian species. The bird flu outbreak is the worst globally and also in U.S. history, with hundreds-of-million birds dead since it first turned up in domestic waterfowl in China in 1996.”
Bird flu is highly transmissible, spread through droplet and feces-borne infections, and exacerbated by climate-change-altering migration schedules for birds and its repeated re-circulation in domestic poultry.
“As the virus continues to spread through mammal populations, the World Health Organization has called on public health officials to prepare for a potential spillover of H5N1 to people,” Walzer said in a statement.
The “R naught” value — or the number of people infected by a single infected person — for COVID initially ranged from 1.5 to 7, according to WCS. For H5N1 among birds, it is around 100.
“It is imperative that we take a collaborative One Health approach to identifying emerging strains of bird flu across the globe to support the development of specific and universal vaccines that can quickly treat infection in people to prevent another pandemic,” said Walzer. “The cost of inaction is already causing major devastation to wildlife. As we work to help affected populations recover, we must remain vigilant against the spread of this deadly pathogen to people before it’s too late.”
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Crystal Graham
