MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has reported the first case of transmitting a strain of bird flu virus called A (H5N8) to humans in birds and reported the issue to the World Health Organization (WHO), Anna Popova, head of consumer health said on Saturday the watchdog Rospotrebnadzor.
Outbreaks of the H5N8 strain have been reported in recent months in Russia, Europe, China, the Middle East and North Africa, but so far only in poultry. Other strains – H5N1, H7N9 and H9N2 – have been known here) to spread to humans.
Russia reported the case of human infection to the WHO “a few days ago, just as we became absolutely sure of our results,” Popova told state television Rossiya 24. There were no signs of human transmission yet, he added. she.
Seven workers at a poultry factory in southern Russia were infected with the H5N8 strain in an outbreak at the plant in December, Popova said, adding that those involved are feeling well now. “This situation has not developed further,” she said.
In an e-mail, the European arm of the WHO said it had been notified by Russia of a case of human H5N8 infection and acknowledged that this was confirmed for the first time when the strain infected humans.
“Preliminary information indicates that the reported cases were workers exposed to flocks of birds,” the e-mail said. “They were asymptomatic and no human-to-human transmission was reported.
“We are in talks with national authorities to gather more information and assess the impact of this event on public health,” the email added.
Most human avian influenza infections have been associated with direct contact with infected live or dead birds, although properly cooked food is considered safe.
Outbreaks of bird flu often cause bird plants to kill their birds to prevent the virus from spreading and to prevent importing countries from imposing trade restrictions.
The vast majority of cases are spread by migratory wild birds, so producing countries tend to keep their poultry indoors or protected from contact with wildlife.
The Siberian Vector Institute said on Saturday it would begin developing human tests and a vaccine against H5N8, the RIA news agency reported.
Reporting by Polina Devitt and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Mark Heinrich and David Holmes