Millions of birds have died. How to stop humans dying, too
As isolated human cases of H5N1 emerge, now is the time to prepare
Over the past couple of years the largest outbreak of avian influenza (h5n1) in recorded history has torn across the planet. The virus, which is deadly to birds, has devastated wild and domesticated flocks alike. Attempts to stop transmission have seen hundreds of millions of birds culled on farms since the strain was first identified in 1996. Wild bird deaths are probably in their millions at least. The danger is that, as the virus mutates, a bird pandemic becomes a human one. Precisely how h5n1 will adapt and spread is impossible to predict. But the time to prepare is now.
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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “What to do about bird flu”
Leaders July 20th 2024
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