First human cases of H5N8 avian influenza occur in Russia

Apparently, seven people in Russia received the bird. Bird flu, that is.

Back in November 2020, I wrote for Forbes on how a strain of bird flu, A (H5N8), spread among birds in Europe. Well, it seems that this strain has since passed from birds to some humans. TASS, the Russian news agency, reported the detection of this strain of influenza in seven workers in poultry farming in southern Russia. They quoted Anna Popova, head of the Federal Oversight Service for the Protection of Consumer Rights and Human Welfare, as saying: “Scientists at the Vector Center have isolated the genetic material of this type of avian flu from seven workers in a poultry farm in the south of the Russian Federation, where an outbreak of bird population was recorded in December 2020. “These were the first confirmed cases of avian influenza A (H5N8) infection in the world .

TASS reported that the seven agricultural workers are now in “good health” with the clinical course being “very slight”. According to TASS, Popova said that “data on the first case of human infection with influenza A (H5N8) has already been sent to the World Health Organization (WHO). This happened a few days ago, as soon as we became absolutely confident in our results. “They did not specify when in December the cases arose and when Russian authorities actually became aware of the problem. In other words, it is not clear who knew what, when, where and how. Apparently the WHO knows that now.

Of course, the news of humans infected with a strain of bird flu is usually not good. It’s not like you have to say, “Well done viruses! You did it! “Whenever a human is first infected with a virus that normally infects other animals, there is a risk of major problems. Your immune system is not used to being infected with it. such viruses and therefore may not be ready to provide adequate defense. It would be like a cat showing up at your house with a space laser. You are not sure what to do and are not ready to offer the appropriate response like, “Would you consider putting down that space laser and sharing an avocado toast with me instead.”

Worse yet, when your immune system is not used to such a threat, it might overreact. It can be like a nervous guy who doesn’t know what to do on a date, trying anything. Your immune system could release all kinds of chemicals and mobilize cells in a misguided effort to eliminate the threat. As a result, your immune system could still miss the virus, but along the way, it could seriously damage your own body.

This is basically what happened when the Covid-19 coronavirus, also known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2), if you want to use more words, sort of snapped. moved other animals such as bats to humans. As a human, assuming you are a human and not a hedgehog dressed as a human, you hadn’t already set up the proper defenses in your body.

This is also what happened in 2009, when a strain of swine flu, H1N1, jumped to humans. If you remember correctly, the result was a pandemic as well, although it was not as severe as the current pandemic.

It doesn’t mean you have to hit the panic button every time a jump from other animals to humans occurs. First of all, if you have a panic button installed in your bedroom, you should really reconsider the purpose of having such a button. Second, not all jumping will lead to harm.

Expect such virus jumps from other animals to humans to occur here and there. Viruses like influenza viruses are constantly mutating. After infecting an animal, they effectively play the song “Let’s Get It On” over and over again, using the machinery of the animal’s cells to reproduce extensively. But a virus using a cell to reproduce is like a cat using a copier. There will be errors in at least some of the copies.

Each new copy has a chance to have a slightly different genetic code with a mutation. This mutation cannot in any way affect the virus or make the virus less capable of doing things. However, if the mutation actually improves the virus’s ability to survive and infect other people like humans, then this new mutant strain may have a “fitness advantage.” It may start to outperform other varieties and become more common. This is how variants can appear and spread. A strain that can infect humans in addition to other animals may be likely to survive and thrive because it has more options for having “Cake by the Ocean”, so to speak.

Of course, just because a virus can jump to humans for the first time doesn’t mean that a pandemic will start. Unless a new dance craze begins where every human around the world is paired with a bird, a virus that can only spread from bird to human is unlikely to have pandemic potential. . The big leap would be for a mutation to occur that would allow humans to transmit viruses to each other. Fortunately, so far there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the H5N8 strain.

Nonetheless, this is a reminder that viruses are periodically able to pass from animals to humans. Some of these jumps can cause a small number of humans to get a little sick. Some can lead to more serious illness. And some can turn into bigger issues, maybe even beeping issues. Therefore, humans must remain vigilant.

These jumps can happen anywhere in the world and need to be recognized and dealt with quickly. Ideally, public health experts around the world should hear about a December outbreak in December or as soon as possible after. Otherwise, delays in detecting, investigating and reporting a virus passing from birds to humans could end up giving many more people around the world bird flu.