Hi, I’m Dr. Robin Miller of HealthDay. Today, we’re going to talk bird flu – the increasing numbers, the newest mutation, whether it’s a threat to humans and could it cause another pandemic?
So far, there have been 67 human cases in the U.S. all but 3 from contact with infected poultry, dairy cows and other animals. No human-to human transmission.
Most cases have been mild. But a growing number of scientists say the virus could evolve and become dangerous.
One expert who says we better pay attention is Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. Welcome, Dr. Chin-Hong.
Thanks for having me.
Robin Miller, MD, MHS, HealthDay
So, I'm going to start right in. Do you believe bird flu poses a public health threat or will in the near future And why?
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, Infectious Disease Specialist, UCSF
Yes, I think it poses a public health threat because the writing is on the wall. We've had in the last 3 or 4 pandemics, influenza mutations came from origins in birds. So, we're seeing it again. The pieces really picked up in the last year or so and even in the last few months, as more wild birds get infected, as more poultry and dairy cows get infected and ultimately incidental infections to humans. So, we have a lot of influenza going around and influenza is engineered to really swap genes with each other and they can pick up tricks. And some of those tricks include getting the combination to enter our bodies, which is not so great at doing right now.
Robin Miller, MD, MHS, HealthDay
What are the symptoms of bird flu in humans?
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, Infectious Disease Specialist, UCSF
So, the symptoms of bird flu in humans are very similar to regular flu, except that right now it's milder in most people. So, you'd get congestion. You might get a cough, red eyes.
But all of this may change. And we know from regular human flu, as in the case in Louisiana and the case in British Columbia, when it becomes more efficient at entering our bodies, you might get inside disease and that includes shortness of breath and you may have other organ involvement.
Robin Miller, MD, MHS, HealthDay
How can you reduce your risk for bird flu?
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, Infectious Disease Specialist, UCSF
The first and most important thing is to get immunized against regular human flu. And the reason why we want to do that is because it lowers the chances if people get infected with more than one flu type, including bird flu, it lowers the chance that such a gene swap will occur. The second thing you can do is, of course not handle dead birds. Take care of your pets, particularly cats, I would say. And not feeding them raw milk or raw meat, not drinking raw milk or unpasteurized dairy products yourself as the risk increases in dairy cows. And as we've learned from the case in Louisiana, handling or interacting with your own backyard flocks or chickens might be dangerous, particularly if they look really sick.
Robin Miller, MD, MHS, HealthDay
The U.S. has a stockpile of 4.5 million H5N1 vaccines. And although they're based on old mutation formulas, do you think they would work?
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, Infectious Disease Specialist, UCSF
Yes, I think that the stockpiled vaccines would mitigate the effects probably by preventing serious disease, hospitalization and death. Although the code isn't exactly what the current state of the mutations in bird flu are, It's a good start and it will be a good way to protect probably frontline workers in the event that we need to, you know, roll that out more immediately.
Robin Miller, MD, MHS, HealthDay
So, is there anything else you'd like to add?
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, Infectious Disease Specialist, UCSF
I think that's I would say, again, not to panic about this right now. We're in a very different place from the early days of COVID because we have a test. We have vaccines. You know, this has been around for 30 years. We have four drugs. But again, connecting the dots is always going to be key and working together in a bipartisan way.
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