Bird flu can also pose a serious health risk to humans. You can find out what is known about transmission to humans here.
Bird flu is a disease that – as the name suggests – primarily affects birds. The flu can have serious health consequences for birds and can even lead to death. An outbreak of bird flu is particularly fatal for chickens and other feathered livestock that are kept in confined spaces in factory farms. After all, it spreads particularly quickly and poses a major health risk to the already weakened animals.
But bird flu can also be transmitted to humans and mammals. The exact developments and connections are currently still the subject of research.
Bird flu for humans: risk from new virus variants?
Wild birds are primarily responsible for the spread of bird flu viruses, according to a report by the European Commission. In order to be able to estimate which new virus variants are emerging and to what extent herd immunity could develop in the future, researchers are currently trying to collect and evaluate more wild bird data. You can find out more about this here: Risk from bird flu: experts are in the dark.
According to the European Commission, new variants of the bird flu virus emerge particularly quickly because the viruses have a high capacity for mutation and can also mix with other bird flu viruses. This means that new virus strains are constantly being formed. It has now been proven that these strains also infect mammals (such as cows, alpacas, mice and cats) and can also cause bird flu in humans. This means that bird flu belongs to the category of zoonoses.
In April 2024, it was discovered that numerous dairy cows in the USA were infected with bird flu viruses. The virus was eventually transmitted from the cows to a man who, however, only showed mild symptoms. You can find out more about this here: Bird flu: Man becomes infected from infected dairy cows.
Bird flu for humans: harmless so far
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / Camera-man)
According to the European Commission, the risk of bird flu for humans is currently classified as low. For people who come into contact with infected animals, the risk is low to moderate. This is mainly because most virus strains do not infect humans.
Virus variants that can be transmitted to humans can sometimes cause very different symptoms. These range from conjunctivitis and mild respiratory problems to severe pneumonia, which can even lead to death. However, the disease can also be completely asymptomatic if an infection occurs.
So far, there have been no confirmed cases of bird flu infection in humans in the EU. According to the RKI, only a few hundred cases have been confirmed worldwide. Given that several million birds become infected with the disease every year, the number of cases in humans is very low. Transmission from person to person has also not been documented to date.
People who have had or have contact with infected animals are advised to wear protective equipment. In addition, according to the RKI, there is a surveillance system in the EU to report transmissions of bird flu to humans at an early stage.
Read more on Techzle\.com:
- Highly contagious bird flu: 1.4 million animals in risk zones
- Virus subtype H5N1: Cats in Poland infected with bird flu
- Viruses: Humans infect animals and create “new problems”
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