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So far, one human case has been reported in the United
States since the bird flu outbreak among the millions of dairy cattle across
the country.
At least 220 people are monitored and at least 30 have been
tested.
“However, many more people have been exposed to infected
animals, and it is important that all those exposed are tested or monitored and
receive care if needed,” the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Ghebreyesus said
at a news conference on Wednesday.
“So far, the virus does not show signs of having adapted to
spread among humans, but more surveillance is needed,” he urged.
The WHO chief also said that though the virus has been
detected in raw milk in the US, “preliminary tests show that pasteurisation
kills the virus.”
“WHO’s standing advice to all countries is that people
should consume pasteurised milk,” he highlighted.
Pasteurisation is a heat treatment process for milk that
reduces the number of possible pathogenic microorganisms to levels at which
they do not represent a significant health hazard. It also extends the usable
life of milk.
Ghebreyesus also noted that based on the available
information, WHO continues to assess the public health risk posed by H5N1 avian
influenza as low-to-moderate for people exposed to infected animals.
He added that the agency has a system for monitoring
influenza globally through a network of centres in 130 countries, seven collaborating centres and 12 reference
laboratories with the capacities and biosafety requirements to deal with H5
viruses.
“We also have the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness
Framework to support the rapid
development and equitable distribution of vaccines in case of an influenza
pandemic,” he said.
In recent years, H5N1 has spread widely among wild birds,
poultry, land and marine mammals, and now among dairy cattle.
Since 2021, there has been 28 reported cases in humans,
although no human-to-human transmission has been documented.
The outbreak in the United States has so far infected 36
dairy herds in nine states.
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