Avain Flu Reaches Humans

Avian flu devastating poultry flocks in the Midwest has finally reached a human in the USA.  An unnamed Colorado inmate is the first human to test positive for the H5N1 avian flu virus.  Public health officials insist the risk of transmission from birds to humans is low.  The inmate is currently asymptomatic and in quarantine. He was working in a pre-release program on a poultry farm in Montrose County.  The affected flock was euthanized.  The inmate is the second recorded person to have contracted the virus.  A UK person contracted the disease in January. A boy in Hunan, China was infected with the H3N8 strain this month.  Humans are advised to avoid contact with birds and carcasses as well as surfaces with fecal material such as when cleaning bird cages.

A new study published in Nature finds climate change increases the risk of cross-species transmission of viral infections termed zoonotic spillover.  Now, about ten thousand viruses have the capacity to infect humans, but that will increase in number as previously geographically isolated animals come into closer contact with human populations.  This situation will be especially enhanced in Asia and Africa, two of the most densely populated regions on Earth.  Bats are a good example of vectors harboring potentially deadly viral decease. SARS CoV-2 is thought to have originated in bats. The study esitmates that species congregating in areas of high human density caused by climate change and habitat loss will drive the risk of zoonotic spillover four thousand times.