Reuters: The World May Be Facing A New Pandemic

Mutant bird flu threatens humanity more than COVID-19.

The world could face a bird flu pandemic that would surpass COVID-19 in scope and severity, warns Marie-Anne Ramey-Velty, director of the Center for Respiratory Infections at the Pasteur Institute in France, reports Reuters.

The highly pathogenic H5 virus has already caused the mass deaths of hundreds of millions of birds, disrupting food supply chains and driving up prices. Meanwhile, human infections remain rare and are linked to close contact with infected animals.

The main danger is a possible mutation of the virus that would allow it to be transmitted from human to human. "We fear that the virus will adapt to mammals and humans in particular, become capable of human-to-human transmission, and this virus will become pandemic," Ramey-Velty said. Unlike the coronavirus, which mainly affected vulnerable groups, influenza viruses can cause severe illness even in healthy people, including children.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 2003 and 2025, there have been nearly 1,000 cases of human infection with avian influenza in countries such as Egypt, Indonesia and Vietnam, 48% of which were fatal. Recently, the first fatal human infection with the H5N5 virus was reported in Washington state.

Till then, the risk of a pandemic is considered low at this point. Gregorio Torres, head of science at the World Organization for Animal Health, said, "There is a risk of a pandemic, but the likelihood is low. We can safely walk in the forest, eat chicken and eggs and enjoy life". At the same time, experts emphasize that the world is better prepared for such a threat than for the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prototype vaccines have already been created, stocks of antiviral drugs have been accumulated, and technologies for rapid drug production have been perfected.

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