The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of an increase in bird flu outbreaks among mammals that could encourage the spread of the virus among humans.
A WHO statement said that "some mammals can cause the flu virus to mutate, leading to the emergence of new viruses that could be more harmful to animals and humans."
According to the United Nations health agency, the current outbreaks of bird flu caused "devastation" in animals, such as poultry and wild birds, along with some mammals, and negatively affected farmers’ livelihoods and trade. food. "Although they largely affect animals, these outbreaks pose ongoing risks to humans," the organization said in a document cited by the ANSA agency.
WHO, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), urged countries to work together to protect people and animals. "The epidemiology of avian influenza has increased global concern as the disease has spread to new geographic regions and caused unusual die-offs of wild birds and an alarming increase in mammal cases," said WOAH Chief Scientist Gregorio Towers.
Since late 2021, Europe has been hit by the worst bird flu outbreak, while North and South America have also experienced severe outbreaks. This led to the culling of tens of millions of poultry (biologically closer to humans than birds) around the world, many of them carrying the H5N1 strain of the virus, which first emerged in 1996.
Avian flu cases in humans typically result from direct or indirect exposure to infected poultry, live or dead, or to contaminated environments, ANSA concluded.
