The new bird flu “H5N8” has infected seven people in Russia, and Russian officials have reported it to the World Health Organization.
In recent months, the H5N8 bird flu epidemic has severely affected chickens and ducks in many parts of the world, including Russia, Europe, China, the Middle East and North Africa, but this is the first time that The virus has also begun to infect humans.
It should be noted that like the corona virus, there are dozens of types of bird flu or avian influenza virus. However, only a few of them have caused disease and epidemics in humans, including H1N1, H5N1, H7N9 and H9N2.
The global “Spanish flu”, which claimed millions of lives in 1918, was also caused by an H1N1 virus that, after a change in 2009, led to another global swine flu pandemic. However, the death toll from swine flu was significantly lower than the Spanish flu.
Like other strains of the bird flu virus, H5N8 has in the past only infected chickens, ducks and other birds, and has recently transformed itself to infect humans. ۔
“H5N8” affected 7 employees at a Russian poultry plant in December 2020. The plant produces a variety of products from chicken and duck meat.
Further reports indicate that those infected with the H5N8 virus may have been diagnosed with HIV / AIDS. In addition to these 7 people, no one else was reported to be infected with the virus.
The Vector Institute in Siberia says it has begun testing for a rapid diagnosis of the H5N8 virus and that work on a vaccine will begin soon. ۔
Although no H5N8 transmissions have been reported so far, there are fears that the virus could spread to humans by further modifying itself at any time. ۔
