High infection of Avian Influenza among mammals sparks concerns for Human Transmission!

The fear of the virus being able to make humans catch bird flu
The fear of the virus being able to make humans catch bird flu. Credit | AdobeStock

United States: The fear of the virus being able to make humans catch bird flu seems higher by the fact that the virus has contracted in a number of mammals, as the USDA announced.

Prevalence of disease in the US

The disease is present in three states namely, Washington, Montana, and Kentucky, and a number of animal cases have already been reported amongst them so far this year. Washington counts three striped skunks being infected, and Montana notably intercepted a mountain lion, as Kentucky spots a raccoon.

The virus had been passed through wild birds and poultry, at a large scale with 82 million animals infected in 48 states. All animals are affected currently.

Transmissions among humans

This pandemic has now been transmitted among mammals and worries of humans contracting the virus too have increased even though the threat is relatively small for now.

Dr. Chris Walzer, with the Wildlife Conservation Society, said, “I think it’s quite likely,” and, “This avian influenza outbreak has been one of the largest threats to wildlife globally. We just can’t wait for it to hit human populations,” as CBS News reported.

The call for better tracking of the disease in order to protect humans from the virus is being called by Waltzer who stated that the virus is acquiring, “new traits that could create a problem for us humans,” as the New York Post reported.

Warnings by scientists across the world

Scientists all over are now requested to monitor closely any signs of the spread of avian flu, CBS News reports.

Bird flu was also detected in marine animals in South America, as the latest study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases revealed.

Research tested genomes of a disease and found that 4 of the sea lions and 1 seal had almost identical samples of the virus, according to the Wildlife Society.

In these three countries of Argentina, Chile, and Peru alone, H5N1 has killed about 600,000 wild birds and 50,000 mammals over the years 2022 and until now, the News York Post reported.

The virus has led to a surge in egg prices in the US due to the fact that the sizeable poultry business of California has been stricken.

The flock of 550,000 hens at Sunrise Farms in Sonoma County started to go through the mandatory government killing.