Right now, bird flu can’t pass from person to person. They’re saying there might be changes coming, though, and they’re working on vaccines just in case.
Since May, lots of chicken farms in Australia have had bird flu outbreak, which have been a big problem for them. They’ve had to kill a lot of birds and it’s messed up the egg supply.
The bird flu outbreak on the farms is because of types of bird flu that start with H7, like H7N3 and H7N8. But the big worry right now is this one called H5N1.
This H5N1 is spreading fast around the world and it’s really risky for birds, other animals, and even people.
Experts are saying H5N1 might come to Australia soon. Right now, it’s not spreading between people, but they’re watching to see if that changes.
More Info about Bird Flu:
H5N1 first showed up in southern China back in 1996.
Different types of H5N1 are put into groups called clades. One of these groups, clade 2.3.4.4b, has been spreading a lot since 2020, which has experts worried. Lately, it’s been affecting not just wild birds and chickens but even dairy cows in the United States.
So far, they haven’t found H5N1 in birds or animals in Australia. But they’re getting more worried because it’s spreading so much in other places, which means it could show up here too. Scientists at CSIRO are saying the chances of it getting here are higher this year than before.
Luckily, not many people have gotten H5N1. Since 2022, there have been five cases of clade 2.3.4.4b in the United States. All those cases were people who got it from being close to dairy cows or chickens, and about ten other cases have been reported in other parts of the world.
Australia had one case of H5N1 in a kid who came back from overseas earlier this year, but it was a different type.
One big problem with flu viruses is they can change a lot. These changes could make them spread more between people, which could cause a worldwide outbreak.
Vaccines:
There are a few vaccines for H5N1 right now. They’ve been making vaccines for this kind of flu since it showed up, and they got approved in the US in 2007 by Sanofi Pasteur, in the European Union in 2008 by GSK, and in Australia in the same year by CSL Limited.
The first H5N1 vaccines were made from eggs. They grew the virus in chicken eggs, made it not work, and then gave it to people as a shot to help their bodies fight it.
Now, CSL Seqirus has made a new kind of H5N1 vaccine that’s made from cells instead of eggs. They use animal cells instead of chicken eggs, which is important when there aren’t many eggs around during bird flu outbreaks.
Even though the risk to people is low right now, the World Health Organization says most people shouldn’t get the bird flu outbreak vaccine yet.
But Finland is going to start giving out the CSL Seqirus vaccine soon. They’ll give it first to people who have a high chance of getting it, especially if they’re around animals that might have the virus. Finland will be the first place to try giving out H5N1 vaccines.
Scientists say the vaccines they have now should work against the H5N1 that’s spreading right now. But they might not work as well against future types of the virus.
Looking at mRNA Vaccines:
mRNA vaccines were used for COVID-19, and now they’re starting to use them for another virus called RSV in the United States.
These vaccines work by telling the body to make virus parts so the immune system can learn how to fight the virus when it shows up for bird flu outbreak.
This kind of vaccine could be good for bird flu outbreak too. Moderna started testing mRNA vaccines for H5 and H7 types in 2023 and got more money to keep working on them. Companies like GSK and Pfizer are also making mRNA vaccines for H5N1.
One good thing about mRNA vaccines is they can change fast if the virus changes a lot. If the virus changes, they can change the vaccine fast to match it.
Other Ideas:
Scientists are working on vaccines that could work against all kinds of flu, but they probably won’t be ready for a while.
Since bird flu outbreak mostly affects birds, another good idea is to give vaccines to birds. In places where bird flu is common among birds, like Egypt and China, they already give flu shots to chickens and other birds.
Looking Ahead:
People are really worried that H5N1 could cause a big problem around the world. But scientists think we’re ready for it because of what we learned from other diseases, like COVID-19, and because we can make vaccines faster now.