Former CDC director Robert Redfield suggested that an avian flu epidemic among humans was inevitable — and that it was too dangerous. (Watch the video below.)
Redfield, who was appointed by the Trump administration to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2018 to 2021, gave an alarming interview to NewsNation on Friday after the World Health Organization announced the bird flu-related death of a 59-year-old man. Old man in Mexico.
“I think it’s very likely that at some point we will — it’s not a question of when, it’s a question of when — we’ll have an avian flu epidemic,” Redfield said.
different types of Mammals found to contain the virus – incl Cows, cats, ferrets and elephant seals. Between humans, a plague has an increasing chance of killing 25 to 50 percent of those infected, Redfield warned.
Before vaccines were available, the overall mortality rate of COVID-19 was 1.7%. According to CDC statistics.
Redfield said scientists have found that the bird flu virus hasn’t yet spread from human to human, but once it does, “that’s when you have an epidemic.” The Hill reported. “Like I said, I think it’s just a matter of time.”
Another expert expressed similar concerns. “Are we seeing the beginning? Is this where we’re seeing spillovers that will one day play out over and over again? Or is it like Covid, where all of a sudden human cases pile up and then it’s too late?” Louis Monclaw is an avian flu researcher and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. told the CBC.
The World Health Organization announced earlier this month that the 59-year-old in Mexico, who died of comorbidities and the virus in late April, had no contact with chicken or other animals.
The strain he had, known as H5N2, had never been seen in humans before, the Associated Press reported.
The bird flu, H5N1, currently affecting dairy cows has reportedly caused mild symptoms in three US farm workers. However, since its discovery in 1996, H5N1 has infected about 900 people worldwide. Mortality rate About 50 percent.
“The risk of one or two sporadic cases becoming a matter of international concern is not small,” CDC Principal Deputy Director Nirav Shah said. told Politico In May. “We’ve all seen how a virus can spread around the world before public health gets its boots on. It’s a risk and one we need to be aware of.
A step CDC Timeline of Avian Influenza Outbreaks, 36 people in China were diagnosed with HPAI H5N6 in 2021, and 18 of them died. Bird flu is usually spread between birds and other animals. But can affect humans Exposed to an animal’s bodily excretions, such as spit or feces.
