Spanish Experts Warn Next Pandemic Could Originate from the US
Madrid:Spanish experts have issued a warning that the next potential pandemic could originate from the United States due to the ongoing mutations and spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus. According to *La Vanguardia*, infectious disease specialists have stated that the virus is continuously evolving and spreading in the US, which raises concerns about the potential for a new outbreak.
Avian influenza, commonly known as “bird flu,” is a viral infection that primarily affects birds, poultry, and other animals. Although there is currently no evidence that the virus can be transmitted from human to human, experts have raised alarms about its ability to spread to domestic animals and the risk posed by mutations or the mixing of different strains, which could potentially lead to human infection.
The report indicates that while the new pandemic could originate in the US, experts have expressed some reassurance as they believe that the country’s immediate access to information and resources will allow for faster identification and response to the situation.
Spanish scientists are confident that the global monitoring system will quickly detect any human infections due to the stronger surveillance systems that have been put in place since the COVID-19 pandemic. As they pointed out, the world is now in a much better position than in 2020 to handle such outbreaks.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, highlighted the “dangerous spread” of H5N1 in the US during a media briefing last week. He reported that the virus has spread across hundreds of dairy farms in the country, leading to 58 human cases so far.
According to experts, symptoms of avian influenza include pink eye, fever, fatigue, cough, muscle aches, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The virus can lead to severe complications such as pneumonia, difficulty breathing, bacterial infections, sepsis, brain inflammation, and respiratory failure.
