1st human infection with H5N8 in Russia ‘ warning of inter- species transmission’

The H5N8 strain of bird flu has been detected in seven workers at a poultry farm in Russia, the first time it has been found in humans, according to media reports. Chinese experts said although it may not become a black swan event, the discovery is a warning for countries that reported outbreaks of the strain. And they advised these countries to set up appropriate mechanisms to prevent interspecies transmission.

Human- to- human transmission of the novel bird flu virus has not been registered yet, Tass quoted a Russian official as saying on Sunday.

All seven infected people are in good health and have only mild symptoms, said the official.

Zhu Yi, an associate professor at China Agricultural University in Beijing, believes that the discovery that the new strain has passed from birds to human might not become a black swan event, at most a “gray rhino event.”

“Humans have more experience in dealing with bird flu and tend to get the upper hand in the battle against the disease,” Zhu said.

The H5N8 strain of bird flu has been found in Europe, South Asia, East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa recently, with no detected cases of human infection until the Russian report.

The new strain of bird flu was found at a poultry farm in southern Russia, where an outbreak in the bird population was recorded in December 2020.

However, experts said that the possibility of human- to- human transmission cannot be ruled out if the virus mutates.

The Russian official was quoted in the report that “time will tell how soon subsequent mutations will allow it to cross this [ humanto- human] barrier.”

Zhu said the inter- species transmission should sound an alarm to the world, especially the countries where bird flu outbreaks have happened, and that mechanisms should be established to prevent the virus from passing from wild birds to poultry and then to humans.