Former CDC director says bird flu will cause the next pandemic
The high pathogenic H5N1 has spread to 101 dairy farms across 12 states in the US, with three humans testing positive so far.
The next pandemic could be caused by bird flu, the former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned.
“I really do think it’s very likely that we will, at some time, it’s not a question of if, it’s more of a question of when we will have a bird flu pandemic,” said former CDC chief Robert Redfield.
Redfield served as director of the CDC from 2018 to 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Once the H5N1 virus adapts to spread from human to human, “that’s when you’re going to have the pandemic,” Redfield told NewsNation. “And as I said, I think it’s just a matter of time.”
He added that the mortality rate is likely to be much higher from bird flu compared to Covid-19.
The highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza H5N1 first emerged in domestic geese in China in 1997. In 2020, a new outbreak of the virus was reported in wild birds in Europe, which swiftly spread to farmed birds globally, as well as spilling over into mammal populations. In the US alone, 96 million birds in commercial and backyard flocks have perished due to the virus since February 2022.
In March, the H5N1 bird flu virus was found in dairy cows in Kansas and Texas, marking the first time it has ever been detected in cows. One month later, the CDC announced that the first person contracted H5N1 after exposure to dairy cows. Fast-forward to this week and the virus has now spread to 102 herds across 12 states, with three dairy workers testing positive.
In the first two human cases - one dairy farm worker in Texas and another also in Michigan - both displayed conjunctivitis, also referred to as “pink eye”. However, the third positive case in the US displayed respiratory symptoms.
"Someone who’s coughing is more likely to spread the virus than someone with conjunctivitis," Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the CDC told journalists.
The second person to test positive showed a mutation that may make the virus more adaptable at spreading between mammals, genetic sequencing revealed.
Earlier this month, the first human death due to another strain of bird flu, H5N2, occurred in Mexico, the WHO reported.
The virus may now be transmitting back from cows into birds, after poultry farms reported cases potentially linked to dairy farms.
According to a report published on Wednesday, the CDC is now “preparing for the possibility” that the virus could evolve to spread more easily among people.
“The more infections there are among cows, the more risk there is for infections to occur among humans,” said Shah.
“The fact that it’s in 20% of our milk supply should be disturbing to everyone because that means it’s gone around already,” Xavier Becerra, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said last week. “If it starts to jump, that’s when we really have to worry.”
Credit: Andrew Skowron
A Ticking Time Bomb
Diana Bell, Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of East Anglia, who participated in the first-ever scientific assessment of the impact of avian flu on wildlife and biodiversity back in 2006, says that to stem this tsunami of H5N1 and other avian influenzas we need to ‘completely overhaul poultry production on a global scale.’
“The trend towards megafarms containing over a million birds must be stopped in its tracks,” she writes for The Conservation. “To prevent the worst outcomes for this virus, we must revisit its primary source: the incubator of intensive poultry farms.”
A report released last year by Compassion in World Farming mirrors this sentiment, warning that without major reforms to industrial farming, it will not be possible to end the spread of bird flu or reduce the risk of a global human pandemic.
Author of the report and Chief Policy Adviser at Compassion in World Farming, Peter Stevenson, said: “Bird flu is like a ticking time bomb. Unless we wake up and take urgent action to end factory farming we will simply be unable to stop its rapid spread across the globe or reduce the risk of a serious human pandemic developing.
“Cramming animals together in factory farms is not only totally inhumane, it’s creating the perfect place for bird flu and other viruses to spread and mutate into more dangerous strains,” he added.
“Three key actions are needed to tackle this disease – vaccination, major reform of the poultry industry and an end to the factory farming of pigs. Governments around the world must implement this three-point plan without delay. If they don’t, millions more birds and other mammals are likely to suffer and die and the health of millions of people may be in serious jeopardy,” he concluded.
For the sake of animals, the planet, and our own health, we must move away from farming animals and transition to a plant-based food system. Be a part of this change today by signing up for our 30-Day Plant Power Challenge.
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