Why sick minks are reigniting worries about bird flu spreading to humans
- As bird flu hits more and varied animals, the fear is the virus could evolve to spread more easily between people, and potentially trigger a pandemic
- Scientist say another kind of bird flu was likely behind the devastating 1918-1919 flu pandemic, and avian viruses played roles in other flu pandemics
A recent bird flu outbreak at a mink farm in Spain has reignited worries about the virus spreading more broadly to people.
Scientists have been keeping tabs on this bird flu virus since the 1950s, though it wasn’t deemed a threat to people until a 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong among visitors to live poultry markets.
As bird flu hits more and varied animals, like at the mink farm, the fear is that the virus could evolve to spread more easily between people, and potentially trigger a pandemic.
Scientist say another kind of bird flu was likely behind the devastating 1918-1919 flu pandemic, and avian viruses played roles in other flu pandemics in 1957, 1968, and 2009.
Still, the risk to the general public now is low, says Dr. Tim Uyeki of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
A look at the bird flu virus and why it is getting renewed attention:
