Avian flu, risk of rapid spread to humans

Avian influenza (H5N1) is spreading worldwide. Following the detection of cases in some farms between the provinces of Mantua and Verona in Italy (11 outbreaks confirmed), cases have also been reported in Puerto Rico. The US Department of Agriculture has confirmed the presence of the virus in backyard poultry. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers the risk to the public to be low, but state health officials have increased surveillance. The San Francisco Department of Public Health has announced that a child has tested positive for the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The child, whose condition did not require hospitalisation, has since recovered, although how the child contracted the infection remains unclear. The first death linked to avian flu has been reported in the United States: a 65-year-old man who was hospitalised for a pre-existing medical condition. Experts have expressed concern about the initial spread of the H5N1 virus to humans through milk and dairy products, as well as cases of direct transmission from animals to humans by methods that are not yet clear. Alessandro Grimaldi, head of the Infectious Diseases Department at the ‘San Salvatore’ Hospital in L’Aquila, Italy, said there was a risk of the H5N1 virus jumping species and spreading rapidly among humans.