The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a health alert after a dairy farm worker in Texas was confirmed to have contracted the highly infectious H5N1 strain of avian influenza from cattle. This marks the second confirmed human case of H5N1 in the United States in the past two years.
Experts are deeply concerned about the virus potentially adapting to mammalian species and gaining mutations that could allow it to spread more easily between humans. H5N1 has been detected in animals since 1959, with a case fatality rate of 52 percent in humans. The subtype 2.3.4.4b has been spreading in wild birds and mammals worldwide since 2020.
Reports have indicated that the virus has even reached Antarctica and infected multiple mammal species, raising alarms about its ability to cross species boundaries. Virologist Raina MacIntyre has called for urgent surveillance to monitor if H5N1 begins spreading between pigs or ferrets, which have a similar receptor profile to humans.
MacIntyre expressed extreme concern over the current situation, highlighting the steady increase in H5N1 infections in animals since 2021 and the potential for a human pandemic strain to emerge. With the virus showing signs of spreading to different species and potentially gaining the ability to infect humans more easily, health authorities are on high alert to prevent a widespread outbreak.
As the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, the threat of another deadly infectious disease looms large. Authorities are urging increased vigilance and measures to prevent the spread of H5N1 to humans, underscoring the importance of monitoring and swift action to avert a potential public health crisis.