Currently, the largest bird flu epidemic in history is raging. For the first time, a child has been infected in the United States. In Canada, a teen is battling a mutated virus.
Two cases of avian influenza in children and teenagers in North America have sparked concern among scientists. On the one hand, the first case of a child infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus was discovered in the United States. On the other hand, experts discovered bird flu in a Canadian teenager. Virus in teenagers mutates and adapts to human host”, explains the virologist.
The Canadian teenager was hospitalized in critical condition about two weeks ago, the Canadian government said. According to media reports, the young man was recently undergoing treatment. Despite the virus's adaptation, there is no evidence that anyone else was infected by the teenagermultiple media outlets reported unanimously.
The risk to the population remains low
The American child attended a daycare center in California and showed only mild symptoms. U.S. health authority the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that all tests on family members came back negative. Human-to-human transmission has not been detected in the United States or Canada. Authorities in both countries continue to assess the risk to the population as low.
According to official information, investigations into both cases are still ongoing to determine where the infection may have occurred. H5N1 avian influenza is currently widespread among wild birds around the world, and many wild mammals are also infected. The virus has also recently caused outbreaks at poultry farms in Canada and dairy farms in the United States.
H5N1 virus under electron microscope.Image: trapezoid
Sometimes infected in cattle, sometimes in birds
To date, 55 cases of H5N1 infection have been confirmed in the United States. However, how large that extent is is largely unknown due to a lack of data. Most people are infected on dairy farms, as the virus is rampant among cows in the United States. Courses are mild; the disease usually presents as conjunctivitis because the virus may enter the body through the eyes.
However, in Canada, official information suggests that the young man was infected by a bird for this particular virus. Similar viruses have been found in poultry farms and wild birds in the region. Specific mutations in the virus suggest that this H5N1 variant may also more easily infect the human respiratory tract, Nature reports. The virus may have progressed further in the teen.
In the United States, dairy cows are primarily affected.Image: trapezoid
Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, told CNN that this is the first time science has actually seen such human adaptations in the H5N1 virus Evidence of mutation. Three mutations found may make it easier for the virus to attach to human cells.
'There is reason to worry'
“Nature” quoted immunologist Scott Hensley of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia as saying that although the development is worrying, it does not mean that a new pandemic is imminent. “There is reason to be concerned,” he said. “But there's no reason to panic completely.”
According to “Nature” magazine, since the outbreak of H5N1 influenza, about 900 cases of infection have been detected worldwide. In the vast majority of cases, they have direct contact with sick animals. (rbu/sda/dpa)
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