Bird flu might infect humans ‘more easily’, UN agencies warns: What it means

Amid avian flu outbreaks globally, three UN agencies warned that the virus might adapt to infect humans more easily, urging countries to strengthen disease surveillance and improve hygiene at poultry farms. This comes as a new highly contagious H5N1 strain of bird flu among wild birds spread to new geographical regions, raising fears of a pandemic among humans.

Only about six cases in people had close contact with infected birds as per World Health Organization (WHO) and most of those have been mild, it said. 

“There is a recent paradigm change in the ecology and epidemiology of avian influenza which has heightened global concern as the disease spread to new geographical regions and caused unusual wild bird die-offs, and alarming rise in mammalian cases,” Dr Gregorio Torres, Head of the Science Department at WOAH, said. 

While United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organisation for Animal Health said countries should work together across sectors.

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"We encourage all countries to increase their ability to monitor these viruses and to detect any human cases," Dr Sylvie Briand, the director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention at the WHO, said. 

Countries also need to share genetic data of viruses from humans and animals in publicly accessible databases, the agencies said. About ten countries have reported cases of avian flu outbreaks in both land and sea mammals since 2022.

There are likely to be more countries where outbreaks have not yet been detected or reported. Both land and sea mammals have been affected, including outbreaks in farmed mink in Spain, seals in the United States of America, and sea lions in Peru and Chile, with at least 26 species known to have been affected," WHO noted. 

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