This research has been occurring for at least a decade. During that time there have been laboratory accidents, one of which is known to have happened at the end of 2019.
It is these laboratory accidents that pose a risk of infection to humans and mammals, not the naturally occurring bird flu.
On 25 March 2024, the World Health Organisation (“WHO”) was notified about a case of human infection with an influenza A (H5N1), bird flu, virus by the national authorities of Vietnam.
According to the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005, a human infection caused by a novel influenza A virus subtype is an event that has the potential for high public health impact and must be notified to the WHO. WHO will then assess the risk posed to the general population based on available information. In the case of the Vietnamese, WHO assessed the risk of this virus as low.
On 1 April, a person in Texas tested positive for H5N1 bird flu. The Texan worked with dairy cows “presumably infected with H5N1 bird flu viruses,” the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) said. This was the second human case of H5N1 bird flu reported in the United States. There was a previous case in 2022 in Colorado in a poultry worker.
The case of the Texan was also reported to WHO. WHO assessed the public health risk to the general population posed by this virus to be low and for occupationally exposed persons, the risk of infection is considered low-to-moderate....<<<Read More>>>...