Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/LONDON: The top influenza experts of the world gathered this week to talk about the danger posed to people by a strain of the H5N1 avian flu that has recently been responsible for unprecedented numbers of bird deaths worldwide.
The group of regulators, vaccine manufacturers, and scientists gathers twice a year to decide which strain of seasonal flu to include in the vaccine for the next winter season for the northern hemisphere.
But it is also an opportunity to discuss the possibility of the pandemic animal virus spreading to humans. H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b was a major issue at this week’s meeting, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and international flu experts who spoke to Reuters.
Later on Friday, they will brief the media on the seasonal flu vaccine’s ingredients and spillover concerns.
Before the meeting, Sylvie Briand, WHO director of global infectious hazard preparedness, remarked, “We are more prepared (than for COVID), but even if we are better prepared, we are not yet prepared enough. We must keep up the fight against a flu pandemic.”
The H5N1 avian flu
Since the H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b emerged in 2020, experts have been monitoring it. Still, recent reports of significant fatalities in afflicted mammals, including seals and bears, and the possibility of mammal-to-mammal transfer on a Spanish mink farm last year have caused anxiety.
However, there have been few human cases, and the WHO recently assessed a low threat to humans.
