A 53-year-old man from Chile developed a sore throat, hoarseness and cough before being diagnosed with bird flu.
In March 2023, the patient’s symptoms worsened and he was admitted to the intensive care unit.
After being treated with antivirals and antibiotics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said he is still under observation in the hospital.
After testing, lab results by Chilean and US public health officials identified two virus-associated mutations in the PB2 gene that are believed to make the virus more deadly and transmissible to humans.
The British newspaper The Sun reported that this came just weeks after the execution of 40,000 chickens in central Chile.
A new lab analysis looked at a virus found in the lungs of a patient who lived in the Antofagasta region of Chile. According to the WHO summary, it is believed that he became infected through contact with sick or dead birds.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stressed that despite the new mutations, the current threat to humans remains low.
There is currently no evidence that the mutated virus has spread to other people or that it has the ability to evade drugs and vaccines.
The CDC said there is no evidence yet that mutations would make it easier for it to take root in the human upper lungs, raising concerns about spreading to humans.
The Solntse newspaper reports that scientists are now urging the government to develop a new bird flu vaccine.
Bird flu
The NHS explains that bird flu is “a contagious type of flu that spreads among birds.”
In “rare cases” avian influenza can infect humans, with some strains of concern reported:
- H5N1 (since 1997)
- H7N9 (since 2013)
- H5N6 (since 2014)
- H5N8 (since 2016)
The NHS says: “H5N1, H7N9 and H5N6 do not infect humans easily and are not normally transmitted from person to person. However, many people around the world have been infected with it, leading to a number of deaths.”
Current avian influenza infections have been identified as type A H5N1.
It is noteworthy that, according to the World Health Organization, over the past two decades, there have been about 868 cases of human infection with the H5N1 virus, and more than half of them (456) were fatal.
There have been reports of human-to-human transmission of the virus, but this is very rare. Moreover, the vast majority of those infected were infected directly from birds.
Concerns have arisen in recent months over an “unprecedented” outbreak of avian influenza in birds and mammals.
Experts fear that the sheer scale of the current outbreak could give the virus more room to mutate, which could allow H5N1 to better spread among humans.
How can bird flu spread?
Avian influenza can be spread through close contact with an infected bird, live or dead.
This includes touching infected birds, handling droppings, killing or preparing infected birds for food.
If someone has bird flu, the main symptoms may include:
- High fever, feeling hot or chills
Pain in the muscles
- headache
Cough or shortness of breath
- Diarrhea
- fell ill
- abdominal pain
chest pain
Bleeding from the nose and gums
Conjunctivitis
Symptoms usually appear within five days of the initial infection. Treatment includes antiviral drugs, which can help reduce the severity of symptoms.
Source: Express
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