On Wednesday, the World Health Organization expressed concern that an increase in the number of cases of bird flu among mammals could contribute to the “easier” spread of the virus to humans, AFP reported.

“Avian influenza viruses normally spread among birds, but the increasing number of cases of H5N1 avian influenza in mammals, which are biologically closer to humans than birds, raises concerns that the virus may have adapted to infect humans more easily,” the WHO report said. statement.

In this warning, also signed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the organizations call on all countries to work together “to save as many animals as possible and protect people”.

Since its appearance in 1996, the H5N1 bird flu virus has mainly caused seasonal epizootics (there is no short-term spread).

But according to the WHO, since 2020, a variant of this type of virus has caused an unprecedented number of deaths among wild birds and poultry in many countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.

In 2021, the virus spread to North America, and in 2022 to Central and South America.

These epizootics are synonymous with the mass death of wild birds and the slaughter of tens of millions of poultry.

“There has been a recent paradigm shift in the ecology and epidemiology of avian influenza, which has caused worldwide concern,” explained Dr. Gregorio Torres, WHO chief scientist, in a press release on Wednesday.

He notes that the disease has spread to new regions, causing unusual mortality rates among wild birds and “an alarming increase in the number of cases among mammals.”

The three organizations are also concerned that some mammals may act as “mixing reservoirs” for flu viruses, which could lead to the emergence of new viruses that could be even more dangerous to animals and humans.

Recently, more and more cases of deadly epidemics among mammals have been reported, they note.