Reuters: Scientist warns bird flu virus could trigger pandemic

The bird flu virus that has been spreading among wild birds, poultry and mammals could spark a pandemic even more severe than COVID-19 if it mutates to spread between humans, the head of France's Institut Pasteur respiratory infections centre warned.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has led to the culling of hundreds of millions of birds in the past few years, disrupting food supplies and driving up prices, though human infections remain rare, Reuters reports.

"What we fear is the virus adapting to mammals, and particularly to humans, becoming capable of human-to-human transmission, and that virus would be a pandemic virus," Marie-Anne Rameix-Welti, medical director at the Institut Pasteur's respiratory infections centre, said.

Rameix-Welti noted that while people carry antibodies against common seasonal H1 and H3 flu strains, they have none against the H5 bird flu now affecting birds and mammals, just as they previously had none against COVID-19.

She added that, unlike COVID-19, which primarily harms vulnerable groups, flu viruses are capable of killing otherwise healthy individuals, including children.

The Institut Pasteur was one of the first European laboratories to design and distribute COVID-19 detection tests, providing its protocols to the World Health Organisation and laboratories around the globe.

However, the likelihood of a human pandemic emerging remains low, Gregorio Torres, head of the Science Department at the World Organisation for Animal Health, told Reuters.

“We need to be prepared to respond early enough. But for the time being, you can happily walk in the forest, eat chicken and eggs and enjoy your life. The pandemic risk is a possibility. But in terms of probability, it's still very low,” he said.

There have been numerous cases of human infection with H5 bird flu viruses over the years, including the H5N1 strain currently circulating among poultry and dairy cattle in the United States. Most infections have involved close contact with sick animals.

This month, the first recorded human case of H5N5 appeared in Washington state. The man, who had underlying health conditions, died last week.

According to the WHO’s latest bird flu report, nearly 1,000 human outbreaks were recorded between 2003 and 2025 — primarily in Egypt, Indonesia and Vietnam — with a fatality rate of 48%. 

By Jeyhun Aghazada