Experts reveal bird flu symptoms to look out for as public warned to prepare for a pandemic

Daily Mail​

29-04-2025

Top U.S. experts have warned the country is staring down the barrel of another pandemic as bird flu spirals out of control on farms.
So far, the H5N1 outbreak has affected nearly 1,000 dairy cow herds and resulted in more than 70 human cases, including the first confirmed death.
Virus specialists have warned of the 'repeated spillover' of the potentially deadly infection into other mammals, and flagged its pandemic potential.
Now, a team of international experts from the Global Virus Network (GVN) has warned that the U.S. poultry industry is at significant risk, and called for urgent efforts to understand and interrupt transmission to its spread among humans.
Meanwhile, Dr Marc Johnson, a virologist at the University of Missouri warned on Twitter that the virus 'is trying really hard' to 'go pandemic,' adding: 'It sure is getting a lot of opportunities.'
The GVN also called for increased initiatives to 'educate the public' about the risks of bird flu.
The virus often has the the same symptoms as regular, flue, including a cough, sore throat, a runny or stuff nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue, and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
But more severe symptoms have also been reported including severe upper respiratory infections like pneumonia requiring hospitalization, and a high temperature of over 100F, or 37.7C.
Like Covid, bird flu virus infection in people cannot be detected by clinical signs and symptoms alone, and requires lab tests. Swabs used to test for the infection can be collected from the throat, nose, or eye of the sufferer.
U.S. health chiefs have pointed out that testing is more accurate when the sample is collected during the first few days of illness.
For critically ill patients, collection and testing of lower respiratory tract specimens also may lead to diagnosis of bird flu virus infection.
However, for some patients who are no longer very sick or who have fully recovered, it may be difficult to detect bird flu virus in a specimen.
In January, U.S. officials reported the first bird flu death in a person in Louisiana who had been hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms.
The patient, said to be older than 65, had underlying medical problems and had been in contact with sick and dead birds in a backyard flock.
A genetic analysis of the patient's infection suggested the bird flu virus had mutated while inside their body, which could have caused a more severe illness.
It came a month after California declared a state of emergency over bird flu in response to the outbreak among the state's dairy cattle.
The state has identified H5N1 in 645 dairy herds since its first detection in late August last year, according to the state's agriculture department.
Nearly half of the cases were reported within 30 days, highlighting the rapid spread of the virus.
Although California was not among the first states to detect H5N1 in dairy cattle, the outbreak has grown significantly since its initial discovery.
Another concerning case involved a Canadian teenager who had the same type of bird flu, and was hospitalized on November 8 after falling ill on November 2.
The most recent report said the teenager was still in the hospital in a critical condition, requiring help to breathe, but was stable.
It was not clear how they caught the disease, as dogs and reptiles they had come into contact with all tested negative.
Humans are unlikely to catch bird flu from eating poultry and game birds because it is heat-sensitive, and properly cooking the poultry will kill the virus.
Instead, human infections mostly occur when the virus gets into a person's eyes, nose, or mouth, or is inhaled.