Humans are “occasional hosts” of avian influenza (bird flu) at this stage, Professor of Microbiology/Molecular Virology at the University of Nicosia Medical School Dr Petros Karagiannis told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) on Saturday, noting that a problem will arise in case the virus changes and can be transmitted to humans easily and then from human to human.
Following an announcement by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about alleged cases of H5N1 bird flu in poultry farm workers, CNA contacted Karagiannis, who explained what the bird flu virus is and the risks involved.
Dr Karagiannis said bird flu is an influenza, like human influenza, which affected birds until very recently, recalling that last year just before spring there were two possible cases of bird flu in Famagusta district in the Government control areas of the Republic of Cyprus, which were treated on time thus the disease did not spread to the local poultry population.
He added that in other countries, when cases were d
etected, farmers were forced to kill thousands of birds in an attempt to limit the spread.
He also noted that sometimes, especially people who raise or watch poultry can become infected with the avian influenza virus, noting that there is no human-to-human transmission. “That’s why we don’t see widespread transmission in the human population. But when it does happen, many times, it is fatal for the people who are infected,” he said.
This year, for the first time, Dr Karagiannis continued, in the United States of America, it was observed that the virus infected cows, which are mammals. Therefore, he added, this also carries risks for humans, because once it got into mammals, it might be transmitted to others and the next mammal that could be transmitted is pigs.
Dr Karagiannis pointed out that “the unknown factor is when this will happen, with the possibility that it will not happen at all”. He noted that if the avian influenza virus does spread, there will be a possible widespread transmission at the doors
tep, not a pandemic at the level it was with the coronavirus because of the flu vaccinations that are being given. “We also have antiviral medicines available which could be used and because we have the experience of flu vaccines, a jab could be produced very soon,” he stated.
He noted that humans are “occasional hosts” at this stage, noting that the problem will arise if the virus changes and can be transmitted to humans easily and then from person to person.
Asked by CNA about the increase in cases of coronavirus observed in the community, Dr Karagiannis said that “this is due to a new variant of coronavirus”, further explaining that it is a sub-variant of “Omicron”. He stressed that it is not a more aggressive variant and therefore things remain as they are.