With bird flu surging, people in the U.S. need to do more to prevent a possible pandemic. The U.S. Government Accountability Office says efforts to protect chickens and turkeys from bird flu rely on voluntary and often inadequate measures by poultry producers. Controlling the virus in poultry is the main way to reduce human infection and prevent a pandemic, the GAO says.
Source: The Washington Post, May 11, 2017 (paywall).
Health officials worldwide are closely monitoring the disease’s spread because of the big increase in cases and worrisome changes in the virus. Of all emerging influenza viruses, this strain of H7N9 has the greatest potential to cause a pandemic if it evolves to spread easily from human to human. It also poses the greatest risk to cause serious disease.
INSIGHTS: It is easy to see reports like this as crying wolf. Still the context is significant from a One Health perspective and perhaps more importantly, from the perspective of the growing backyard chicken trends. Our team will keep an eye on this. So should all animal health pros.