Shafaqna English- A day after the United States reported its first human death from avian flu, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the risk to the wider population remains “low”.
WHO’s Spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva that the H5N1 virus causing the disease is “not circulating in humans but jumping into humans” who are exposed to poultry or dairy cattle. “We’re not seeing sustained circulation,” she insisted. The man who died of the disease in Louisiana was over 65 and reportedly had underlying medical conditions, Dr Harris said.
According to the health authorities, he had been exposed to chickens and wild birds. Several dozen people in the USA have contracted avian influenza – commonly referred to as bird flu – during the current outbreak, mainly farmworkers in close contact with poultry flocks and cattle herds.
Dr Harris stressed that WHO’s assessment of the risk to the general population “is still low and remains set”. The main concern is for people who work in animal industries because they need to be better protected from infection.
Source: News.un.org