Raise biosafety norms to combat bird flu
The largest outbreak of avian influenza (H5N1) in recorded history has worried the scientist community the world over. In the USA, over 57 million poultry birds have been affected within a year. It is not the farmed birds causing the concerns though. Migratory birds, through their cross-continent flyways, have spread H5N1 across the globe, leaving scores of mammalian species sick with the virus. In Europe, Africa and both the Americas, a new strain of the bird flu—as it is popularly called—has since been detected among sea lions, seals, dolphins, foxes, otters and ferrets. Grizzly bears and lions, too, have fallen prey to the virus, worrying virologists over the possible mammalian transmission.
After it was first detected in China in 1996 and the world woke up to a deadly outbreak in Hong Kong the next year, avian influenza has not abated. Vaccines came as a shield while intense research by the scientific community, surveillance and protective measures helped the global community grapple with the transmission from infected birds. For a virus that inflicts a 50% fatality rate among infected humans, the only silver lining so far is the low jump rate from birds. Human-to-human transmission is unheard of so far.
In October last year, a Spanish farm had over 52,000 mink infected with H5N1 and all had to be euthanised. No humans in the region tested positive, but the transmission was possibly mammalian which fuelled intense concern—will avian influenza trigger the next pandemic? H5N1 more effectively infects birds due to the presence of a certain cell receptor which is absent in mammals, but genome sequencing from the Spanish mink farm revealed mutation. Earlier this month, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, World Health Organisation chief, warned that although cases have been rare since 1996, “we must prepare for any change in the status quo.” Highly pathogenic viruses need more and more hosts to evolve and mutate, which is one concern the global virologist community knows must not become a reality in the case of avian influenza.
It is, therefore, imperative that every country, including India, raises biosafety protocols, research and surveillance. The world is yet to fully come out of the traumatic experience of social, economic and emotional devastation caused by SARS-CoV-2. All one can hope is—not another, please.