UK stockpiles 5million bird flu vaccines amid fears highly pathogenic H5N1 virus will spark the next pandemic
THE UK Government is stockpiling more than five million bird flu vaccines amid fears the H5N1 virus could spark the next global pandemic.
The highly pathogenic bug, which has been prevalent in birds across the world over the last few years, has begun spreading in mammals including cows.
Scientists fear the bug, which has so far infected 904 people across the world since 2003, could mutate to spread from human to human, triggering another pandemic.
In a bid to bolster the country’s defences, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has secured H5 jabs to be rolled out in the event of any such outbreak.
Dr Meera Chand, emerging infection lead at the UKHSA said: “Early access to vaccines saves lives.
“It is important for us to be prepared against a range of different influenza viruses that may pose human health risks.
“Adding H5 vaccines to the interventions already available to us will help us to be ready for a wider range of threats.”
The vaccine will be manufactured in the UK, by healthcare company CSL Seqirus UK Limited.
Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, from Oxford University, warned: “Emergence of a new strain of influenza remains at the top of the list of pandemic threats.
“So, providing resilience against potential risky flu types, like H5, is important for future pandemic and outbreak preparedness.
“H5 is only one of the multiple families of flu viruses that create such a risk, so we should not be complacent.
“But H5 is the one that we are most concerned about today as a result of the global spread of this virus amongst birds and various mammals, and worryingly across the US amongst cattle this year.
“H5 is out there and we need to do all we can to be prepared.”
Avian influenza A (H5N1) is a subtype of the flu virus that typically affects birds and mammals.
Since 2003, World Health Organization statistics show H5N1 has infected 904 people worldwide, killing at least 465.
The WHO states: “The human cases thus far are mostly linked to close contact with infected birds and other mammals and contaminated environments.
“This virus does not appear to transmit easily from person to person, and sustained human-to-human transmission has not been reported.”
But, the sheer scale of the current outbreak has prompted fears that the virus could be just a few mutations away from becoming more transmissible in humans.
So far, it has jumped from birds to pigs, foxes, seals and has spread widely in cattle in the US.
There have been 61 human cases detected in the US to date, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – mostly among dairy workers, who suffered from mild symptoms.
However, a teenager who recently contracted the infection in Canada from an unknown source has been in critical condition for over a month and remains in intensive care.
“This is what happens just before we have major pandemics,” Prof Christopher Dye, from Oxford University previously told The Sun.
“Sometimes it fizzles out, but sometimes it explodes because pathogens find unexpected ways to survive and spread,” the former director of strategy at the World Health Organisation (WHO) explained.
The virus’s rapid spread could create more opportunities for it to mutate, increasing the risk of it jumping between humans.
Genetic analysis of the virus that infected the Canadian teenager revealed mutations that make it easier to infect humans.
Spotted in the UK
Last month, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed cases of H5 bird flu at a poultry farm in Yorkshire, England.
The department said all poultry would be humanely killed and a protection zone set up to cover 3km around the site.
However, it has not yet been detected in humans in the UK.
Bird flu: Could it be the next human pandemic?
By Isabel Shaw, Health Reporter
BIRD flu is running rampant in wildlife around the world and is now spreading in cows.
This increase in transmission has given the virus lots of opportunities to mutate – a process where a pathogen changes and can become more dangerous.
Scientists fear it’s only a matter of time before one of these mutations makes it better at spreading among mammals – and potentially humans.
Some experts believe the virus could already be spreading among some animal species.
So far, there is no evidence that H5N1 can spread between humans.
But in the hundreds of cases where humans have been infected through contact with animals over the past 20 years, the mortality rate is high.
From 2003 to 2024, 889 cases and 463 deaths caused by H5N1 have been reported worldwide from 23 countries, according to the World Health Organisation.
This puts the case fatality rate at 52 per cent.
Leading scientists have already warned an influenza is the pathogen most likely to trigger a new pandemic in the near future.
The prospect of a flu pandemic is alarming.
Although scientists have pointed out that vaccines against many strains, including H5N1, have already been developed, others are still in the pipeline.