A review of sustained mammal-to-mammal bird flu transmission in diverse species, led by The Pirbright Institute, shows global control strategies are not working. Writing in Nature , researchers analysed whether outbreaks in European fur farms, South American marine mammals and United States dairy cattle raise questions about whether humans are next. Led by zoonotic influenza specialist Dr.
Thomas Peacock, the scientists evaluated how recent changes in the ecology and molecular evolution of H5N1 in wild and domestic birds increase opportunities for spillover to mammals. They also weighed various evolutionary pathways that could turn the global H5N1 influenza panzootic into a human pandemic virus. "Influenza A viruses (IAV) have caused more documented global pandemics in human history than any other pathogen.
Historically, swine are considered optimal intermediary hosts that help avian influenza viruses adapt to mammals before jumping to humans," said Dr Peacock, who investigates the drivers of the current H5N1 avian influenza panzootic. "However, the altered ecology of H5N1 has opened the door to new evolutionary pathways." The review highlights potential gaps in control mechanisms, including a reluctance to engage with modern vaccine and surveillance technologies and a dearth of data collection around the transmission of H5N1 between cows and to humans on US dairy farms.
Whilst previous generations of US cattle producers had eradicated foot-and-mouth disease by rapidly sharin.
