US bird flu outbreak, concerns of next pandemic

The diagnosis of the H5N1 bird flu virus in a Texas farm worker in the United States, the second human case in the United States, has raised concerns.

The virus has also been detected in dairy cattle across five states in the country.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed this as the first instance of bird flu transmission to dairy cattle within the country.

Bird flu, also known as avian influenza Type A, is a highly infectious disease that primarily affects birds.

The H5N1 strain was first identified in domestic waterfowl in China and has since spread globally through migratory birds.

Recently, this strain has jumped from birds to mammals, including a variety of species from sea birds to cows.

Human cases of bird flu have been sporadic since an outbreak in Hong Kong's poultry industry in 1997.

While most human infections have been reported in Asia, there have also been cases in Africa, the Americas, and Europe.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 2003 and 2024, there were 887 human cases of H5N1 with an estimated fatality rate of 52 percent.

Despite the relatively low number of human infections, many have resulted in fatalities.

Experts warn that a bird flu pandemic could pose a greater threat than Covid-19.

The virus has not yet evolved to transmit from one person to another.

Most humans diagnosed with bird flu worldwide have had close contact with infected birds or mammals but have not transmitted the disease to other humans.