{"id":1693,"date":"2025-11-28T10:01:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T10:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/?p=1693"},"modified":"2025-11-28T10:01:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T10:01:11","slug":"bird-flu-mutation-could-trigger-a-pandemic-more-severe-than-covid-19-experts-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/?p=1693","title":{"rendered":"Bird Flu Mutation Could Trigger a Pandemic More Severe Than COVID-19 Experts Warn"},"content":{"rendered":"

HRNW<\/strong><\/a> – The bird flu virus currently circulating in wild birds, poultry, and several mammal species may pose a far greater global health threat than COVID-19 if it evolves to spread efficiently between humans, according to the head of the Respiratory Infections Centre at France\u2019s Institut Pasteur.<\/p>\n

A Growing Global Threat<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (commonly known as bird flu<\/a>) has already caused the culling of hundreds of millions of birds worldwide<\/strong>, disrupting food chains and contributing to rising prices.
Despite the scale of the outbreak, human infections remain extremely rare.<\/p>\n

Marie-Anne Rameix-Welti, medical director at Institut Pasteur, told Reuters that the greatest concern is the virus adapting for human-to-human transmission<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIf the virus gains the ability to transmit between humans, it could spark a pandemic,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Institut Pasteur was among the early European laboratories to develop and distribute COVID-19 testing methods globally during the 2020 outbreak.<\/p>\n

\"Youtube<\/a>
Youtube – Human Rights Media Network<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lack of Antibodies Against H5 Bird Flu<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Rameix-Welti explained that while people naturally carry antibodies against seasonal flu strains such as H1 and H3, there is no existing immunity against the H5 virus<\/strong> now affecting birds and several mammals.
This mirrors the lack of immunity the world had before COVID-19 emerged.<\/p>\n

Unlike COVID-19\u2014which disproportionately affected vulnerable groups\u2014avian flu viruses are known to cause severe illness and fatalities even in healthy adults and children<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cA bird flu<\/a> pandemic could be extremely severe, potentially worse than what we experienced with COVID-19,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Human Cases Remain Rare but Concerning<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Several isolated human infections have been recorded over the years, often linked to direct contact with infected animals.
The U.S. recently reported its first-ever human case of H5, N5<\/strong>, involving a patient with underlying medical conditions who later passed away.<\/p>\n

According to the World Health Organization, nearly 1,000 human cases<\/strong> of H5<\/strong> infections have been reported globally between 2003 and 2025,<\/strong> with a fatality rate of about 48%<\/strong>, mostly in Egypt, Indonesia, and Vietnam.<\/p>\n

Pandemic Risk Remains Low \u2014 for Now<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Despite the potential dangers, experts emphasize that the current probability of a human pandemic is still low<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Gregorio Torres, head of Science at the World Organisation for Animal Health, told Reuters:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe must stay prepared, but for now the risk remains very low. Everyday activities\u2014like walking in the forest or eating poultry and eggs\u2014are still safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Better Prepared Than Before COVID-19<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Rameix-Welti noted that global systems are now better equipped to respond quickly to emerging flu threats.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cUnlike the early days of COVID-19, we already have candidate vaccines and the capability to produce them rapidly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

She added that existing antiviral stockpiles<\/strong> are expected to be effective against current avian influenza strains if needed.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HRNW – The bird flu virus currently circulating in wild birds, poultry, and several mammal species may pose a far greater global health threat than COVID-19 if it evolves to spread efficiently between humans, according to the head of the Respiratory Infections Centre at France\u2019s Institut Pasteur. A Growing Global Threat Highly pathogenic avian influenza…<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[390,29,42],"class_list":["post-1693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-bird-flu-mutation-could-trigger-a-pandemic-more-severe-than-covid-19-experts-warn","tag-hrnw","tag-world"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":62,"today_views":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1695,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693\/revisions\/1695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}