Russia reports first case of H5N8 bird flu in humans: Public health chief

Russia on February 20 said that it found the world’s first case of H5N8 avian influenza in humans though the virus isn’t spreading between people. According to Bloomberg, Anna Popova, the country’s public health chief, said that the officials have sent information on the seven cases detected in workers at a poultry farm in southern Russia to the World Health Organization. In a televised speech, Anna said the discovery of the strain gives the world time to prepare for possible mutations. 

She said, “It is not transmitted from person to person. But only time will tell how soon future mutations will allow it to overcome this barrier. The discovery of this strain now gives us all, the whole world, time to prepare for possible mutations and the possibility to react in a timely way and develop test systems and vaccines”. 

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