The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is raising concerns about the H5N1 virus. Bird flu is spreading rapidly among wild birds and poultry farms in Europe. The risk to humans is still low, but the ECDC has created 14 preparedness scenarios. One of these includes the chance of a pandemic from human-to-human transmission.
This warning comes after worries about virus mutations. Studies from the Pasteur Institute suggest that an H5N1 pandemic could be worse than Covid-19. The ECDC urges quick action, better surveillance, and stronger biosecurity on poultry farms and in wildlife.
European countries are already taking steps. France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Belgium have ordered poultry to stay indoors. Since 2021, H5N1 has killed hundreds of millions of birds and recently affected cattle in the USA, leading to some human cases and one death.
To protect workers at high risk, the European Commission has ordered hundreds of thousands of doses of a pre-pandemic vaccine. They can increase this supply if needed.
