"People in Central America and South America really need to be aware," he says, "that this virus is likely to arrive on their doorstepif it hasn't . But the new, more contagious strain is particularly affecting wild birds, Sky News reported. This is because bird influenza viruses must mutate in several ways to infect mammals efficiently. This can happen when virus is in the air (in droplets or possibly dust) and a person breathes it in, or possibly when a person touches something that has virus on it and then touches their mouth, eyes or nose. Human infections with bird flu viruses have most often occurred after close or lengthy unprotected contact (i.e., not wearing gloves or respiratory protection or eye protection) with infected birds or places that sick birds or their saliva, mucous and feces have touched. "Generally, when the weather gets hot, influenza goes away for the most part," Hagerman says. hide caption. The sun can, for instance, naturally disinfect surfaces while gloomier days help viral particles survive on surfaces contaminated by infected bird poop, Lorenzoni said. LPAI can cause mild to moderate disease in poultry, and usually little to no clinical signs of illness in wild birds. Just one or two mutations could make H5N1 more efficient at infecting humans. In the U.S. the virus has led to the destruction of millions of commercially raised chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese, and has killed thousands of wild birds. Since early 2022, more than 49 million birds in 46 states have either died as a result of bird flu virus infection or have been culled (killed) due to . "Generally speaking, these complexes are over a million birds, easily," Hagerman says. Most viruses are of low pathogenicity, meaning that they causes no signs or only minor clinical signs of infection in poultry. By contrast, humans experience influenza as a respiratory infection and spread it by breathing and coughing. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to search. Why unprecedented bird flu outbreaks sweeping the world are - Nature Speaking about this death to AP, James Wood, the head of the department of veterinary medicine at Cambridge University, said there is no reason to be unduly concerned about human infection with bird flu. The virus does not pose a special risk in the nation's food supply, given proper handling. Rescued chickens gather last year in an aviary at Farm Sanctuarys Southern California Sanctuary in Acton, Calif. The virus of concern in this outbreak is a Eurasian H5N1 HPAI virus that causes high mortality and severe clinical signs in domesticated poultry.
