Should we be worried? The bird flu virus has been detected in England in two poultry workers, who were participating in a screening program, the British Health Security Agency said Tuesday. The two had recently worked on an infected poultry farm, the agency said. They were both "asymptomatic" and "have since tested negative."
Have they been infected with the influenza A (H5) virus, detected on them? Hard to say at the moment. In asymptomatic people, it can indeed be "difficult to distinguish" a real infection from a simple "contamination of the nose or throat", resulting from inhalation of contaminated materials and which can be at the origin of the positive test, says the agency in a statement.
Contact tracing
It is "likely" that the first individual is in this second case. But the situation of the second is "more difficult" to determine, says the agency, which specifies that "a thorough investigation is underway". In the meantime, "contact tracing has been conducted for this individual." However, the agency said that no evidence of human-to-human transmission has been provided, and that the health risk "remains very low for the general population".
"Globally, there is no evidence of this strain spreading from person to person, but we know that viruses are constantly evolving and we remain vigilant," said Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency.
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A screening campaign has been launched in the United Kingdom among asymptomatic people who have been in contact with farms contaminated with avian influenza. These people are invited to take samples from the nose and throat during the ten days following their exposure, and, in some cases, blood tests may also be performed to "detect antibodies, suggesting an immune response," details the agency.
Around the world, fears have emerged in recent weeks about bird flu caused by the H1N5 virus, which is wreaking havoc among wild birds and has already infected mammals and even a few humans. This virus "worries us particularly with a very high case fatality rate (around 50%)" during past episodes, Arnaud Fontanet, head of the team dedicated to the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the Institut Pasteur, told us.