Amid a growing number of bird flu cases globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has voiced “great concern” following the detection of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in raw milk.
This new development could potentially impact the U.S., where the virus remains rare yet deadly. U.S. officials have reported cases of the Type A H5N1 strain of bird flu in dairy cows in Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico.
Dr. Jeremy Farrar, Chief Scientist at the WHO, stressed the severity of the situation, stating, that the avian flu has an “extremely high” mortality rate among those infected.
Fortunately, the U.S. has only recorded two cases, with the affected individuals having direct contact with livestock, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Both cases involved highly pathogenic avian influenza, with no evidence of human-to-human transmission.
However, the WHO’s recent announcement that the virus was found in the milk of infected cows has escalated fears.
Dr. Wenqing Zhang, head of the WHO’s global flu program, revealed to the Daily Mail a “very high virus concentration in raw milk,” a discovery that prompts significant health concerns.
Despite these findings, pasteurized milk, commonly sold in U.S. grocery stores, remains safe to consume. The U.S. dairy industry has protocols to destroy milk from infected cows, preventing it from entering the food supply chain.
The potential for the virus to evolve and achieve human-to-human transmission is a significant worry for global health officials.
Dr. Farrar expressed his concerns about the possible adaptations of the virus: “The great concern, of course, is that … [the] virus now evolves and develops the ability to infect humans. And then critically, the ability to go from human-to-human transmission.”
The CDC has differentiated two types of avian flu: low pathogenic and highly pathogenic, with the latter having a mortality rate of 90%–100% in poultry, often within 48 hours of infection.
Since January 2022, over 90 million birds have been affected across 48 states, and the virus has spread to cattle in eight states, prompting the WHO to urge U.S. officials to monitor the situation closely.
Dr. Farrar raised several questions about the virus’s spread, “This is a huge concern and I think we have to … make sure that if H5N1 did come across to humans with human-to-human transmission, that we were in a position to immediately respond with access equitably to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.”
John Fulton, a pharmaceutical industry consultant, commented on the potential evolution of the virus, “Once it’s mutated to infect humans, we can only hope that the [fatality rate] drops.”
Between 2003 and 2019, the avian flu had a nearly 53% fatality rate globally, with 861 cases reported and 455 deaths. [Source]
In the event of a pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has limited vaccines available, and it would “take months” to produce sufficient quantities.