Russia detects H5N8 avian flu variant in humans, alerts WHO

Russia said on Saturday that its scientists have detected the first case of transmission of the H5N8 strain of avian flu to humans and has alerted the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Information about the world’s first case of transmission of the avian flu (H5N8) to humans has already been sent to the WHO,” the head of Russia’s health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said. The contagious strain is lethal for birds but has never been reported to have spread to humans.

Scientists at Vektor laboratory isolated genetic material of the strain from seven workers of a poultry farm in southern Russia, where an outbreak was recorded among birds in December. The workers did not suffer any serious health consequences.

45% of first 200mn Covid vaccine doses went to G7

More than 200 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, according to an AFP tally, and 45% of those shots went to wealthy G7 nations and 92% in countries ranked high by World Bank.

In the US, President Joe Biden said he believes the country will be approaching normalcy by the end of this year. Argentina’s health minister, meanwhile, resigned after it emerged that his friends jumped the queue for a Covid-19 vaccination.