MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has registered the first case of a strain of bird flu virus called A (H5N8) being transmitted to humans by birds, and Anna Popova, head of consumer health, has reported to the World Health Organization (WHO). watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said Saturday.
Outbreaks of the H5N8 strain have been reported in recent months in Russia, Europe, China, the Middle East and North Africa, but so far only in poultry. Other strains – H5N1, H7N9 and H9N2 – are known here) that spread to humans.
Russia reported the case of human infection to the WHO a few days ago, just when we became absolutely sure of our results, “Popova said on Rossiya 24 state television. There was still no sign of human-to-human transmission. , she added.
Seven workers from a poultry plant in southern Russia were infected with the H5N8 strain in December during an outbreak at the plant, Popova said, adding that those involved are now feeling well. “This situation did not develop further,” she said.
In an email, the European arm of the WTO said that Russia had been notified of a case of human contamination with H5N8 and acknowledged that it would be confirmed that this was the first time the tribe had infected people.
“Preliminary information indicates that the reported cases were workers who were exposed to bird herds,” reads the e-mail. ‘They were asymptomatic and no further human-to-human transmission was reported.
“We are in talks with national authorities to gather more information and assess the impact on health at this event,” the email added.
The majority of bird flu infections in humans are associated with direct contact with infected live or dead poultry, although properly cooked foods are considered safe.
Outbreaks of bird flu often lead to poultry plants killing their birds to prevent the virus from spreading, and to prevent importing countries from imposing trade restrictions.
The vast majority of cases are spread by migrating wild birds, so producing countries tend to keep their poultry indoors or be protected from wildlife.
The RIA news agency reports that Siberia’s Vector Institute said on Saturday that human tests and a vaccine against H5N8 would begin to develop.
Reporting by Polina Devitt and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Edited by Mark Heinrich and David Holmes