Bird Flu Capable Of Infecting Humans, Animals Discovered In Russia

• 21.02.2025, 9:49

The lethality is up to 56%.

A mutation of bird flu virus, which is able to enhance the ability of the infection to infect mammals, has been identified in Sakhalin region of the Russian Federation, reports Rospotrebnadzor.

According to the agency, no mutation of increased pathogenicity and drug resistance was found in the viruses identified in 2024, but this does not apply to the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus obtained from birds in Sakhalin. ‘A mutation has been identified that can increase virulence and provide adaptation of the virus to mammalian cells,’ notes the press service of Rospotrebnadzor.

Over the past year, experts examined more than 15 thousand samples of biomaterial from wild and domestic birds, pigs, as well as 7.8 thousand samples from people who interact with wild or domestic birds.

The number of cases of human infection with virus A (H5N1) is growing in the world, Rospotrebnadzor said, mentioning the high activity of bird flu circulation. The accumulation of mammalian adaptation mutations in the virus is also recorded. In 2024, the infection spread to 68 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America, as well as reached Antarctica, the agency said.

The bird flu is an infectious disease characteristic of birds, but can also lead to the development of the disease in humans. The infection affects the respiratory and digestive organs of birds. The mortality rate is up to 56%.