MSN Virologists across the globe are raising alarms over the spread of the H5N1 avian flu virus, which is now infecting not just birds, but cattle and humans. While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently considers the risk to the general public low, scientists warn that the virus’s increasing reach could lead to another pandemic.
In a recent Lancet Regional Health–Americas commentary, virologists from the Global Virus Network (GVN), representing 40 countries, warned of the virus’s growing threat. “The recent emergence of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus infections in dairy cows and humans in the U.S. has raised alarms regarding the potential for a pandemic,” they wrote. The virus has now affected nearly 1,000 dairy herds and at least 70 people, including one U.S. death linked to H5N1.