The official reaction from the authorities has been a long time coming but it is here: the United States will spend hundreds of millions of dollars to strengthen the national response to avian flu. The $306 million in funding announced Friday, January 3 by President Joe Biden's administration will support national, state and local preparedness and surveillance programs, as well as medical research against the H5N1 virus. .
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“Even though the risk to humans is low, we always prepare for all possible scenarios”declared, in a press release, the American Minister of Health, Xavier Becerra. “Preparedness is the key to keeping Americans healthy and our country safe”he added.
The United States has detected sixty-six human cases of avian flu in 2024, and others may have gone unnoticed, according to authorities. No spread of the disease from person to person has been observed, but the level of circulation of the virus worries researchers. The risk being that it mixes with that of seasonal flu, risking triggering a deadly pandemic, like those of 1918 and 2009.
The announcement comes as concerns emerge about how the Trump administration will handle the threat. The president-elect told the magazine in April Time that he would eliminate the White House office responsible for preparing the response to the next pandemic, established under the Joe Biden administration – although it is not clear whether he could do so, as this body has been created by Congress.
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The risk of virus mutation
Robert Kennedy Junior, his choice at the health ministry, is notorious for his vaccine skepticism and has promised to reform health agencies. Mr. Kennedy Junior also promoted raw milk, considered a vector of bird flu.
The Biden administration is also facing criticism for its response to bird flu, which some consider insufficient. In a report published in December 2024, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research institute based in Washington, notably criticized the “incomplete monitoring” and the « coordination lente » authorities.
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Another source of concern: the avian flu virus may have mutated in the body of an American patient to adapt to human respiratory tract, American health authorities announced at the end of December 2024. They are also closely monitoring the increase cases of avian flu in felines, which could expose their owners to « risque » to contract the disease through close contact.
Avian influenza A (H5N1) first appeared in 1996, but since 2020 the number of outbreaks in birds has exploded and an increasing number of mammal species have been affected.
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