Russian farm workers are the first humans to contract a new form of bird flu

Seven workers at a poultry farm in southern Russia were the first humans to contract the H5N8 strain of bird flu from humans.

Russia has told the World Health Organization that the virus is not yet spreading between people, Anna Popova, the country’s public health official, said on Saturday, Bloomberg reported. All of the farm workers had asymptomatic cases and recovered, she said.

The strain was first reported in November, found in 15 Russian regions in poultry and wild birds. It was not considered dangerous to humans at first.

“It’s not passed from person to person,” Popova said. “But only time will tell how long it will take for future changes to overcome this obstacle.” The world has a chance to prepare for possible mutations and respond in a timely manner to develop tests and vaccines for the strain, she said.

The Siberian Vector Institute announced on Saturday that it will start developing human tests and a vaccine against H5N8, the RIA news agency reported.

WHO has acknowledged having received the information from Russia. “We are in discussions with national authorities to gather more information and assess the impact of this event on public health,” the organization said in an email to Reuters.

H5N8 has also been found in France, where hundreds of thousands of birds were slaughtered last month to prevent its spread. It was also the source of the worst bird flu outbreak in Japan at the end of 2020 and has been found in China, the Middle East and North Africa in recent months, but so far only in poultry. .