In the USA, more and more cows are falling ill with the bird flu virus. Could this lead to a pandemic? Health politicians from the traffic light group are urging stern to prepare yourself.
Cows in the USA are currently falling ill with bird flu on a massive scale: 129 dairy herds in twelve states are now affected. There have been isolated cases of people becoming infected with the so-called H5N1 pathogen from cows.
Due to the rapid spread, transmission between people could also become more likely. Is the next pandemic looming just over four years after the outbreak of Corona?
Janosch Dahmen, health politician for the Greens in the Bundestag, is concerned. “The spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus among dairy cows has now repeatedly resulted in the disease in humans, albeit mostly in mild cases,” Dahmen told the sternThe virus theoretically has the potential to evolve to the point where it could become a pandemic. The widespread nature of the virus also offers the pathogen many opportunities to change and adapt. “A combination with other influenza viruses, even if unlikely, would be a devastating mutation,” said Dahmen.
Pandemic? “Adapt emergency plans for vaccine production”
The parliamentarian calls for appropriate preparations to be made. “For example, we need to monitor dairy herds in Europe more systematically than before and expand existing wastewater monitoring systems to include H5N1,” said Dahmen. “We should also adapt our emergency plans for possible vaccine production – in case we need to adapt the vaccines and ramp up production quickly.”
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He also calls for the US to be “empowered” to effectively contain the ongoing outbreak. The US’s handling of the spread of the virus has been repeatedly criticized, especially with regard to effective monitoring of the spread of the virus.
Andrew Ullmann, health politician of the FDP, is less alarmed than his colleague: “I am not particularly worried yet,” Ullmann told the stern“We shouldn’t panic about every pathogen.” But he also points out that the pathogen could potentially be dangerous if it is transmitted from person to person. “We should be scientifically, medically and politically prepared for this danger.”
Ullmann is therefore calling for a pandemic agreement at the global level and the complete implementation of international health regulations, “so that information can be exchanged as quickly as possible and a coordinated response to new outbreaks can be made.” Ullmann is also in favor of an inquiry commission in Germany to draw lessons from the coronavirus pandemic. The traffic light coalition is currently negotiating the form in which this investigation should take place. The most likely option at the moment seems to be a combination of a citizens’ council and an inquiry commission, as called for by Ullmann.
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At present, the World Health Organization assesses the risk of H5N1 for humans as low: There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Other scientists, however, are increasingly concerned: “It almost seems like a pandemic that is spreading in slow motion,” Scott Hensley, professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania, told the Reuters news agency. “At the moment, the threat is quite low, but that could change suddenly.”
Virologist Drosten: “This could already be the start of the next pandemic”
The chief virologist at Berlin’s Charité, Christian Drosten, also warned in an interview with the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”: Everything could turn out well, as the virus needs several steps to adapt, and perhaps it will already be under control before then. “But it could also be the start of the next pandemic, which we are following live here.” Due to a lack of data, we do not yet know how often people who come into contact with infected cows become infected.
“One would hope that the USA would now take decisive action. With quarantine,” said Drosten. “In other words, that they would try to isolate the infected herds; look at where people have had contact, whether they have antibodies in their blood. Think about certain hygiene measures. And also about vaccinating cows.”
Due to recent developments, some countries are already taking protective measures. According to Reuters, the US and the EU have secured doses of a “pre-pandemic” flu vaccine that could be used for high-risk groups such as farmers. Finland is the first country to offer vaccination to farmers, veterinarians and employees in fur and poultry farms.
