Bird flu: Spallanzani Institute to update tests

Virologist Fabrizio Maggi, Director of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Diagnostics, and Preclinical Research at INMI Spallanzani in Rome, communicated to the press the Institute’s dedication to the creation and maintenance of expedited diagnostic platforms for the identification of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in human specimens. Spallanzani, serving as the reference laboratory of the Lazio Region for sample sequencing, recently participated in an epidemic simulation exercise. Dr. Maggi stated that the extensive global dissemination of the H5N1 virus across numerous animal species, particularly mammals, represents a considerable risk factor concerning its evolutionary trajectory. This circulation engenders mutations that warrant scrutiny within the scientific community, especially concerning a potential interspecies transmission from mammals to humans and subsequent human-to-human transmission. While human-to-human transmission remains undocumented at present, medical science possesses antiviral agents, currently undergoing investigation in the variant targeting individual viral segments, and self-replicating mRNA vaccines, which are in the developmental phase.