World’s First Case of H5N8 Bird Flu In Humans Detected In Russia
The worrying transmission is the latest reminder of the potential for future pandemics coming from poultry and farmed animals.
Credit: Amy Jones / Moving Animals
Russia has reported the world’s first case of the bird flu virus H5N8 being passed to humans from poultry.
Seven workers at a poultry plant in the south of Russia were infected with the strain during an outbreak at the plant back in December 2020, officials revealed.
“All seven people… are now feeling well”, Anna Popova, the head of Russia’s consumer health watchdog said, reports the BBC.
Bird flu is highly contagious and lethal for birds, but only occasionally infects humans. However, this particular strain has never been detected in humans before.
So far, authorities say the strain has shown no signs of being able to pass from human to human.
"The discovery of these mutations when the virus has not still acquired an ability to transmit from human to human gives us all, the entire world, time to prepare for possible mutations and react in an adequate and timely fashion," Ms Popova said.
The cases have been reported to the World Health Organization, and Russian health institutes have said they will begin work on developing vaccines against H5N8.
The mutation serves as a stark reminder of the risks to human health that are posed by farming animals: more than 6 out of every 10 known infectious diseases in people can be spread from animals, and 3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Denmark recently culled its entire population of 17 million mink on fur farms after a coronavirus mutation was discovered to have passed from mink to humans, while millions of birds have been culled amid bird flu outbreaks around the world. And a recent spread of swine flu wiped out a quarter of the world’s pig population, including as many as 100 million pigs in China during 2019 alone.
But the public and government officials are increasingly speaking out against animal agriculture for its role in spreading diseases. Politicians including U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren have condemned the dangers of factory farming, by sponsoring bills like The Farm System Reform Act.
“These cramped warehouses of livestock are breeding grounds for infectious disease”, says Booker. “Ending the cruel practice of factory farming can help prevent future pandemics”.
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