Centre on Alert for Avian Influenza
T he nascent Centre for imminent threat to the Caribbean. The centre situated at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, views the issue with such seriousness that it brought together a high-powered, international panel of experts for a forum to discuss the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in detail. The forum took place in February 2023 on the topic “Bird Flu: Where Are We Now?” While Professor David Stallknecht of the Department of Infectious Diseases Biosecurity Studies (CBS) is on high alert as bird flu continues to spread across continents and poses an and College of Public Health at the University of Georgia in the United States of America (USA) mainly focused his presentation on the situation in North America, the wildlife biologist said the Caribbean was at risk. “These birds — gulls, shorebirds, ducks — routinely visit the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. These birds are going to be infected with the flu; there’s no question in my mind. When it gets into these areas, we’ll be dealing with
Professor of Comparative Pathology at Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands Thijs Kuiken said mammals have not escaped unscathed with mass mortality events recorded in habour seals in the USA, sea lions in Peru, and farmed mink in Spain. “We can say that the higher prevalence of HPAI H5N1 in wild birds is an important factor in explaining the higher frequency of bird-to-mammal transmission and mainly in carnivores that we’ve seen in the last two years. There is moderate to good evidence that there is efficient spread of this virus in some mammal species … The relevance of these outbreaks for efficient spread among humans depends on the similarity of their respiratory tracts, in particular, the pattern of virus attachment of H5N1 virus in these species.” Based on studies, although humans remain at low risk of infection, mutations have been discovered that could make it more deadly and contagious. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported around 870 cases of human infections across 21 countries between 2003 and 2023. Almost half of the cases have been fatal.
Professor David Stallknecht Department of Infectious Diseases and College of Public Health, University of Georgia, USA
completely different wildlife interactions that probably need to be looked at and considered.” Avian influenza is already in Latin America and the Caribbean. Cases have been reported in Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Columbia, Honduras, and Venezuela. In February last year, it was discovered in a zoo in Cuba. The situation poses a major food security threat as millions of birds have died through infection or have been culled.
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